it 


\ 


PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

PRINCIPLES  AND 
PRACTICE 


BY  >WM>fv> 

JAMES  ALBERT  WINANS 

Professor  of  Public  Speaking  in  Cornell  University 


THE  SEWELL  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

ITHACA,  N.  Y..  U.  S.  A. 

1915 


COPYRIGHT    1915 
BY  JAMES  A.  WINANS 


PRESS  OF  W.  F.  HUMPHREY,  GENEVA,  N.  Y. 


TO 

HAMILTON  COLLEGE 

ALMA   MATER 

rN   RECOGNITION   OF   THE    FACT   THAT   FOR   A    HUNDRED   TEARS 

SHE   HAS    UPHELD   THE    DIGNITY    OF   THE   SPOKEN 

AS   WELL   AS   OP   THE    WRITTEN    WORD 


33461 


PREFACE 

Much  that  might  have  been  kept  for  the  Preface,  and 
thereby  safely  hidden  from  students,  has  been  set  down 
in  the  Introduction  and  in  other  parts  of  this  book. 
There  remains  only  what  I  wdsh  to  say  to  my  own  tribe, — 
the  teachers  of  public  speaking. 

This  volume  is  an  outgrowth  of  a  booklet  published 
in  1911,  entitled  Notes  on  Public  Speaking.  My  purposes 
in  publishing  that  hasty  and  incomplete  work  were  two: 
to  try  out  the  material  on  my  own  classes,  and  to  draw 
opinions  from  other  teachers.  I  have  been  more  success- 
ful in  regard  to  the  first  purpose  than  in  regard  to  the 
second;  yet  the  responses  from  teachers  to  whom  I  sent 
the  Notes  were  of  a  character  to  aid  me  materially  in 
preparing  this  more  ambitious  work,  and  in  gaining  cour- 
age to  believe  the  necessary  effort  worth  while. 

The  scope  of  the  book  is  indicated  by  its  title;  or  would 
be  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  term  public  speaking  is 
now  being  stretched  to  cover  all  oral  expression.  At 
any  rate,  I  treat  here  of  practical  public  speaking,  and 
consider  within  the  scope  of  this  book  whatever  pertains 
to  preparing  and  delivering  one's  own  speech.  What- 
ever in  this  text  pertains  to  interpretation  is  introduced 
chiefly  for  its  bearing  upon  the  training  of  practical  public 
speakers;  and  I  have  taken  a  broad  view  of  what  does 
bear  upon  such  training. 

The  field  is  too  large  for  complete  treatment  in  one 
volume  of  convenient  size.  My  endeavor  has  been  to 
make  a  book  which  should  form  the  foundation  for  practi- 
cally all  the  work  in  this  field;  but  with  it  should  be  used 
a  book  on  argumentation,  one  or  more  books  of  speeches, 
and  also,  for  the  sake  of  gaining  various  points  of  view, 


vi  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

other  texts  of  the  same  general  scope  as  this.  The  main 
work  of  the  student  of  pubhc  speaking,  of  course,  should 
be  speech-making;  and  a  great  deal  of  his  instruction 
must  be  received  as  individual  criticism. 

Some  teachers  may  be  interested  in  a  somewhat  more 
definite  statement  of  my  method  of  procedure.  "While 
the  book  has  been  written  in  the  order  which,  after  much 
experimentation,  seemed  best,  especially  with  regard  to 
economy  of  space,  I  do  not  follow,  its  order  strictly  in 
teaching.  I  ask  my  class  to  read  the  Introduction  and 
study  with  care  Chapter  I,  for  discussion  on  the  third 
day.  I  assign  a  topic  of  general  interest  for  a  discus- 
sion at  the  second  meeting,  and  arrange  for  more  care- 
fully prepared  speeches  to  begin  on  the  fourth  day. 
For  these,  outlines  based  upon  the  simple  form  in  Chapter 
XVI  are  required.  After  these  speeches  Chapter  II 
is  studied  and  discussed.  After  another  round  of  speeches 
we  take  up  Chapters  III,  IV  and  V.  After  a  third  round 
of  speeches,  we  consider  Chapter  IX,  and  study  and 
deliver  the  selection.  Who  is  to  Blame .^  The  first  stage 
of  gesture  training  is  brought  in  about  this  time,  but  the 
speakers  are  urged  to  gesture  freely,  regardless  of  form, 
from  the  start.  After  another  round  of  original  speeches, 
we  study  together  another  selection,  perhaps  A  Liberal 
Education.  This  keeps  us  busy  till  the  Holidays,  in  a 
three-hour  course.  After  New  Year's  we  have  study  of 
gesture  somewhat  more  advanced,  and  end  the  half- 
year  ^^-ith  either  original  speeches  or  selections  individ- 
ually prepared.  Besides  the  speeches  and  selections 
mentioned,  each  student  has  part  in  discussions  of 
principles,  in  impromptu  speeches,  and  has  trials  of 
speeches  before  instructors  and  in  small  groups.  Much 
the  greater  part  of  his  time  is  put  upon  practice  work, 
but  we  have  one  preliminary  examination  and  a  final 
examination. 


PREFACE  vu 

I  The  mind  of  the  student  is  constantly  directed  to  the 
necessity  of  interesting  his  audience,  of  being  clear  and 
convincing;  but  we  reserve  for  the  second  term  systematic 
study  of  the  problems  of  interest  and  persuasion.  We 
put  most  of  our  time  again  upon  practice  work,  making 
speeches  of  many  kinds  and  by  many  methods,  and 
including  some  selections.  In  a  second  year  of  work  for 
upperclassmen  we  attempt  a  thoroughgoing  study  of 
principles.  Masterpieces  are  read,  and  illustrative  matter 
is  drawn,  also,  from  current  affairs,  politics,  reforms, 
from  advertisements  and  from  whatever  can  be  made  to 
serve.  Speeches  are  made  impromptu  and  extempore, 
and  each  student  is  required  to  select  a  major  topic  on 
which  he  ■v\Tites  several  speeches,  which  are  revised  with 
care.  Debate  in  the  narrower  sense  is  at  present  studied 
in  a  separate  course;  but  I  am  not  sure  that  this  is  a 
wise  policy.  In  the  advanced  work  one  feature  is  the 
giving  of  lectures  by  students,  usually  based  upon  a  text- 
book. I  anticipate  having  papers  and  lectures  upon  some 
of  the  problems  not  fully  developed  in  this  text;  for  exam- 
ple, upon  the  restraint  of  radical  action,  attacking  authori- 
ties, and  the  relation  of  novelty  to  persuasion. 

One  might  take  up  the  matter  in  this  book  in  quite 
another  order;  for  example,  one  might  begin  with  chapters 
III  and  IV,  and  then  proceed  at  once  to  Chapter  X.  A 
good  argument  might  be  made  for  so  doing. 

I  have  not  thought  it  best  to  fill  up  the  book  with  long 
extracts  from  speeches;  especially  as  w^e  have  now  many 
books  of  extracts  and  complete  speeches  to  draw  from. 
I  have  preferred  to  illustrate  with  briefly  stated  problems, 
drawn  from  matters  well  within  the  understanding  of 
intelligent  people;  thereby  not  only  saving  space,  but  also 
applying  the  principle  of  "reference  to  experience."  Such 
extracts  as  are  given  will  be  found  useful  for  illustrating 
more  principles  than  those  which  they  directly  supports 


viii  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Not  many  exercises  are  given  in  this  book,  for  I  believe 
one  teacher  is  rarely  able  to  use  to  good  advantage 
another's  exercises.  To  get  the  other  teacher's  ideas 
and  suggestions  is  stimulating;  but  set  exercises,  such  as 
can  be  set  down  in  books,  are  rarely  helpful.  Here  and 
there  in  this  book  suggestions  are  given,  and  in  Chapter 
XIV  are  a  good  many  suggested  programs.  In  general, 
I  have  tried  not  to  embarrass  the  teacher  in  the  exercise 
of  his  discretion  in  adapting  the  book  to  his  own  situa- 
tion. When  I  have  spoken  somewhat  positively  in  regard 
to  methods,  it  has  been  with  reluctance,  and  from  a  belief 
that  the  ways  insisted  upon  were  too  important  to  pass 
over,  and  that  it  would  be  cowardly  to  refuse  to  express 
my  belief. 

One  lives  and  one  learns.  I  believe  that  it  makes  a 
great  deal  of  difference  how  public  speaking  is  taught; 
but  I  do  not  suffer  from  the  delusion  that  there  is  but  one 
way  to  do  things  well.  I  have  taken  a  great  deal  of  pains 
to  get  acquainted  with  other  teachers  and  learn  of  their 
ways;  and  I  know  that  you  who  are  reading  this  may 
be  using  methods  that  seem  to  me  quite  wrong,  and  yet 
getting  good  results.  I  have  tried  to  produce  for  your 
consideration,  therefore,  a  book  of  principles  which  should 
be  adaptable  to  the  work  of  any  one  who  agrees  with 
me  in  fundamentals. 

I  accept  as  inevitable  the  fact  that  some  will  disagree 
fundamentally  with  my  teachings.  I  only  ask  from  them 
the  indulgence  of  a  fair  reading.  Our  subject  is  yet  in 
an  unsettled  state,  and  wide  differences  of  opinion  are 
unavoidable,  perhaps  desirable.  I  hope  that  in  the  future 
we  shall  have  more  established  truth  as  a  result  of  the 
scholarly  efforts  of  the  young  men  now  entering  our  field. 
As  for  myself,  I  shall  be  happy  if  after  my  fellow-laborers 
have  reported  upon  this  work,  I  can  believe  I  have  con- 
tributed a  little  to  the  better  day. 


^ 


PREFACE 


And  here  an  invocation  to  my  critics !  I  hope  they  will 
prove  WTong  my  statement  in  the  Introduction  that 
honest  criticism  is  hard  to  get.  If  you  have  any  pleasant 
things  to  say,  please  say  them;  and  if  you  have  unpleasant 
things  to  say,  please  say  them — to  me.  I  do  not  profess, 
hypocritically,  that  I  like  adverse  criticism;  but  I  promise 
to  receive  it  mth  the  meekness  of  Moses  (see  Exodus,  2:12), 
and  to  give  it  as  fair  consideration  as  a  poor  human  is 
capable  of.  I  trust  it  is  not  too  sensational  to  say  that 
I  do  not  believe  this  the  best  possible  book  on  this  subject. 
I  believe  that  good  books  on  public  speaking  have  been 
written  in  the  past.  I  hope  that  better  ones  will  yet 
be  written,  and  I  hope  to  write  one  of  them  myself. 
Therefore,  your  criticisms,  I  pray !  This  does  not  mean 
that  I  send  this  book  out  with  excessive  modesty,  either 
real  or  assumed.  If  I  did  not  believe  that  out  of  years  of 
experience  and  study  I  have  produced  something  worthy 
of  your  attention,  I  should  not  publish  it. 

This  gives  me  opportunity  to  say  a  word  about  the  man- 
ner of  its  publication.  Some  of  my  friends  say  that  they 
get  a  bad  first  impression  of  a  book  that  does  not  come 
from  one  of  the  great  publishing  houses.  In  the  long  run, 
any  book  must  stand  upon  its  own  merits,  even  though 
it  be  an  abomination  such  as  the  great  houses  sometimes 
publish.  But  for  the  sake  of  first  impressions,  let  me  say 
that  I  have  in  my  desk  two  copies  of  a  contract  for  this 
book,  nicely  signed  by  the  president  of  one  of  the  best 
publishing  houses  in  the  country.  Among  the  chief 
motives  for  publishing  the  book  through  a  local  concern, 
is  that  I  am  thus  able  to  keep  the  way  open  for  a  revision 
as  early  and  as  complete  as  seems  desirable. 

Of  the  ^matter  contained  in  Chapters  III  and  IV,  read 
as  a  paper  at  a  conference,  one  teacher  said,  "That's  all 
right;  but,  of  course,  it  is  not  practical."  I  am  pre- 
pared to  say  that  if  that  teaching  is  not  practical,  then  no 


X  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

teaching  is  practical.  There  may  easily  be  "too  much 
theory"  in  a  course;  but  sound  theory  is  practical.  Some 
may  have  courses  so  brief  that  there  is  time  only  for  a 
little  speaking;  but  we  find  it  profitable  at  Cornell  to 
introduce  a  considerable  part  of  the  matter  in  this  book 
into  a  course  for  engineers  which  meets  but  twice  a  week 
for  a  half-year.  After  all,  one  is  always  proceeding  on 
some  theory,  and  one's  students  have  some  amazing 
theories.  We  want  much  practice;  but  we  should  found 
practice  upon  sound  principles.  Practice  which  is  not 
based  upon  sound  principles  is  not  practical.  I  believe 
in  valid  scientific  theory,  nailed  down  with  the  * 'brass 
tacks"  of  practical  suggestions  and  work.  Hence  I 
offer  you.  Public  Speaking:   Principles  and  Practice. 

I  know  well  some  will  not  approve  of  this  book  because 
it  is  not  written  in  what  they  consider  a  proper  textbook 
style.  I  have  not  hidden  behind  the  third  person,  or 
the  ponderous  ''editorial  we";  but  have  spoken  as  teacher 
to  student.  Again,  I  have  not  put  a  large  number  of 
labels  on  all  sorts  of  things.  Labels  are  very  tempting, 
and  sometimes  handy;  and  also  at  times  very  trouble- 
some. I  have  sought  the  happy  mean.  And  I  have  not 
sought  new  labels  when  I  thought  the  old  serviceable. 
But  back  of  the  lack  of  labels  is  the  lack  of  dogmatic 
rules.  A  teacher  who  was  a  student  in  our  summer 
school  argued  that  some  college  teacher  should  furnish 
a  syllabus  for  public  speaking  and  should  set  down  things 
just  exactly  as  they  are,  without  any  discussion  or  any 
leeway  for  the  student.  One  is  not  surprised  to  learn 
that  this  gentleman  is  a  teacher  of  mechanics.  Of  course, 
the  thing  has  been  attempted  often  enough,  and  will  be 
again.  It  is  much  easier,  when  one  wants  quick  and 
showy  results,  to  be  dogmatic.  The  method  produces 
contented  and  docile  students,  for  the  most  part;  only, 
the  students  best  worth  while  may  revolt,  and  all  may  be 


PREFACE  xi 

disappointed  later  when  they  find  that  the  dogmatic 
teachings  are  not  readily  adaptable  to  many  practical 
situations.  I  have  insisted,  throughout  this  book, 
on  taking  the  student  into  my  confidence,  and  on  trying 
to  stimulate  him  to  think  for  himself.  This  I  do  in  my 
owTi  classes;  and  although  my  students  are  not  particu- 
larly docile,  or  impressed  with  the  belief  that  my  ideas 
are  always  right,  I  am  satisfied  with  the  result.  I  like 
to  see  them  grow.  I  have  particularly  endeavored  to 
lead  students  of  this  book  to  view  speaking  as  a  real  and 
practical  matter,  having  to  do  with  actual  human  con- 
cerns. And  I  have  not  hesitated  to  discuss  anything 
which  might  lead  them  to  observe  human  nature  as  it  is. 

I  have  wished  students  using  this  book  to  become  intelli- 
gent on  the  subject,  not  merely  to  learn  rules.  I  have 
therefore  explained  much.  But  I  have  not  stopped  with 
explanation.  I  not  only  wish  them  to  understand  but 
to  believe  that  what  is  urged  is  wise,  or  to  form  an  intelli- 
gent belief  to  the  contrary.  And  I  have  not  only  wished 
them  to  believe,  but  also  to  do.  I  have  particularly 
wished  them  to  have  the  right  attitude  toward  public 
speaking.  Many  passages  have  been  written  as  the  im- 
mediate result  of  class-room  struggles.  I  find  in  many 
students,  for  example*  prejudice  against  emotion  and 
imagination.  This  I  have  labored  to  overcome.  If  any 
one  says  that,  after  all,  the  chief  thought  in  Chapters  III 
and  IV  is  that  a  speaker  should  master  his  subject,  I  shall 
admit  the  charge.  I  have  devoted  space  to  what  may 
seem  to  us  a  truism,  because  I  wish  to  impress  the  truism, 
and  show  how  it  can  be  put  into  practice.  However, 
I  believe  much  more  than  the  truism  develops  in  the  pro- 
cess,— principles  we  need  throughout  our  work. 

While  I  have  not  attempted  to  reduce  all  the  topics 
of  the  subject  to  a  simple  system,  which  seems  to  me 
impossible  without  artificiality,  still  I  believe  the  work 


xii  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

has  unity.  The  key  word  is  Attention.  I  have  not 
insisted  upon  this  idea  everywhere,  but  everywhere  atten- 
tion is  the  underlying  thought.  It  may  be  that  some 
other  thought  would  serve  as  the  center  of  thinking  on 
this  subject;  but  more  and  more  my  ideas  group  them- 
selves about  this  center,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  no  other 
can  be  equally  good  for  the  student  of  public  speaking. 

As  regards  sources,  I  have  tried  with  scrupulous  care 
to  give  credit  to  whomever  it  is  due.  I  can  conceive  of 
no  good  reason  for  not  doing  so.  But  since  one  can  never 
tell  where  his  ideas  come  from,  and  since  a  preface  is 
essentially  egotistical,  I  will  here  set  down,  for  those 
interested  enough  to  read,  a  few  remarks  in  regard  to  the 
influences  I  have  been  under.  I  was  for  four  years  in 
Hamilton  College,  and  was  much  influenced  by  its  tradi- 
tions and  by  Professor  Brainard  G.  Smith.  Most  of 
Professor  Smith's  teaching,  as  was  usual  twenty  years 
ago,  related  to  delivery.  With  my  principles  of  teaching 
he  can  have  little  sympathy;  but  I  am  indebted  to  him 
for  his  common-sense  standards.  After  two  years  spent 
in  high  school  teaching,  I  came  to  Cornell  and  served 
under  the  stimulating  leadership  of  Professor  Duncan 
Campbell  Lee,  who  showed  me  how  to  teach  without 
rules  and  without  demanding  imitation.  I  have  had 
the  advantage  of  a  summer  term  under  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
S.  S.  Curry,  and  have  been  helped  by  Dr.  Curry's  books. 
But  it  would  be  unfair  to  these  teachers  and  untrue  to 
fact  to  say  that  I  have  derived  any  great  part  of  the 
teachings  of  this  book  from  them.  I  doubt  if  any  one  of 
them  would  own  me  as  a  disciple.  The  books  from  which 
I  have  drawn  are  too  numerous  to  remember;  but  I 
acknowledge  an  indebtedness,  in  regard  to  teaching 
delivery,  to  Kirby's  Public  Speaking  and  Reading. 

In  regard  to  the  psychological  foundations  of  this 
treatise,  I  believe  I  have   made   full   acknowledgments; 


PREFACE  xiii 

except  that  I  have  failed  on  page  83,  to  credit  a  citation 
to  Scott's  Psychology  of  Public  Speaking. 

I  wish  to  express  my  gratitude  for  help  received  in  a 
long  evening's  talk  with  my  former  teacher  of  psychology, 
Professor  William  Harder  Squires,  of  Hamilton  College, 
and  in  several  conversations  with  Guy  Montrose  Whipple, 
now  Professor  of  Educational  Psychology  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Illinois.  To  Professors  Frank  E.  Brown,  of  South 
Dakota  State  College,  John  M.  Clapp,  of  Lake  Forest 
College,  Harry  Bainbridge  Gough,  of  DePauw  Univer- 
sity, James  Milton  O'Neill,  of  the  University  of  Wiscon- 
sin, Charles  W.  Paul,  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  and 
Charles  H.  Woolbert,  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  to  men 
who  are  or  have  been  my  colleagues  in  the  Department  of 
Public  Speaking  in  Cornell  University,  George  A.  Everett, 
Smiley  Blanton,  Alex  M.  Drummond,  Guy  B.  Much- 
more,  Elam  J.  Anderson,  Theodore  T.  Stenberg  and 
Roland  C.  Hugins,  for  suggestions  and  encouragement, 
given  in  letters  and  conversations  (and  sometimes  heated 
combats!);  to  William  Strunk,  Jr.,  Professor  of  English 
in  Cornell  University,  for  reading  a  large  portion  of  my 
manuscript;  to  Messrs.  Muchmore,  Drummond,  Ander- 
son and  Stenberg  for  reading  portions  of  the  manuscript 
and  assisting  in  the  proof-reading;  to  Professor  Much- 
more  for  preparing  voice  and  gesture  exercises;  to 
Willard  Austen,  Librarian  of  the  Cornell  University 
Library  for  many  helpful  suggestions;  and  to  my  wife 
and  my  mother  for  their  encouraging  confidence,  I  make 
grateful  acknowledgments. 

November  8,  1915.  J.  A.  Winans. 


iji\ 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Chapter  Pack 

V.  ^    Introduction 1 

Public  speaking  and  practical  affairs.     As  a  study. 
}  1.        V  Problem  of  Delivery — Cowersixg  with  an  .Audience    17 
Public  and  private  speaking  compared.     Howio  be  con- 
'~~Versational  in  public  delivery. 

II.  -;^'^ Attention — Further  .Analysis  of  Mental  Action  as       u 
-         ""  Afkectino  Delivery 45 

^         Phrasing,  centering,  echoes,  pause,  inflection,  etc.  . 

III.  ^Principles  of  Attention C3 

Forms  of  attention.     Derived  interest.     Novelty.     Con- 
,  i  creteness.     Imagination.     Sustained  attention. 

V  IV.     \.Attention  of  the  Speaker  to  nis  Topic 89 

/  U^-  Application  of  the  preceding  chapter  to  preparation. 

#  V.    ^'<  Emotion 108 

/  Emotion  necessary.     Control  of.     James-Lange  theory. 

Emotion  and  imagination. 

VI.=.    V*  Gesture 119 

Is  necessary.     Kinds  of  gesture. 

VII.  '  Platform  Manners 142 

VIII.  ^Voice  Training 145^ 

IX.  Study  and  Delivery  of  Selections 158 

Attention  of  the  Audience — Interest 178 

Variations  in  audiences.     Principles  of  Chapter  III 
/  applied.     Illustrations.     Qualities  of  style. 

y«Xl.        The  Expository  Speech 2-11 

^  iXlI.     'Influencing  Conduct — Persuasion — When  Active  Op- 

^t  position  is  Lacking 249 

'  Persuasion     defined.     Attention     theory     of.     Motives 

I  and  emotion.     Imagination.     Suggestion.     Crowds. 

^in.  /  Persuasion  and  Belief 300 

Attention  and  belief.  Logical  argument.  Emotion  and 
belief.  Common  ground.  Identification  of  beliefs. 
Conservatism.  Precedent  and  authority.  Attitude 
of  the  speaker.     Tact.     Persuasion  not  trickery. 

XrV.   -(Selecting  the  Subject 390 

Questions  to  consider.     List  of  topics. 

^^V.    "^J^'iNDiNG  Material — Oricinai  ity 415 

i                     Use   of   the   library.     Reference   works.     IIcw   to   read. 
>1  XVl>v  Extemporaneous  or  Written — Plans  and  Outlines.  , . .  423 
Advantages   and   disadvantages   of   various   methods  of 
speaking.         Need  of  planning.     Outlines. 
Lndex 459 


INTRODUCTION 

With  the  call  for  public  speakers  from  pulpit,  bar, 
stump,  and  lecture  platform  remaining  undiminished, 
and  with  the  large  additional  call  in  these  latter  days 
from  ever  multiplying  organizations,  with  their  meetings, 
conventions  and  banquets,  it  comes  about  that  there  is 
to-day  greater  opportunity  and  demand  for  speech- 
making  than  ever  before.  The  average  man  finds  it 
greatly  to  his  advantage  in  civic,  organization  and  busi- 
ness affairs  to  be  able  to  stand  up  and  speak  his  mind; 
while  any  man  who  is  kno"v\Ti  to  have  anything  of  interest 
to  say,  or  who  has  in  any  way  aroused  favorable  public 
attention,  mil  be  fairly  dragged  upon  the  platform. 
Thus  it  comes  about  that  never  before  did  so  many 
untrained  and  ill-prepared  men  find  themselves  upon 
their  legs  facing  audiences, — not  unfrequently  to  the 
regret  of  both  parties.  While  many  work  out  their 
OMn  salvation,  literally  with  fear  and  trembling,  more 
have  but  scanty  success. 

I  shall  not  enter  upon  any  praises  of  the  art  of  public 
speaking.  It  is  good  and  it  is  bad;  it  is  base  and  it  is 
noble.  It  is  part  of  human  life  and  it  is  what  one  makes 
it.  My  point  is  that  it  is  important.  I  wdsh  we  might 
start  with  a  sane,  well-balanced  view  of  this  subject, 
which  seems  peculiarly  unfortunate  in  the  number  of 
half  truths  that  gather  about  it.  We  need  not  deny  that 
it  is  better  to  "do  noble  deeds"  than  to  talk  about  them, 
in  order  to  recognize  that  often  one  must  talk  before  he 
wall  be  allowed  to  do;  and  especially  that  he  must  talk 
in  order  to  induce  others  to  do. 

We  need  not  deny  that  public  speaking  was  compara- 
tively more  important  in  ancient  than  in  modern  times. 


2  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

The  point  is  that  it  is  still  important  to-day,  and  that 
apparently  in  this  age  of  discussion  and  government 
by  j)u})lic  opinion,  it  is  increasingly  important.  It  would 
be  easy  to  fill  a  book  with  expressions  by  men  of  affairs 
to  the  effect  that  ability  to  speak  well  is  important  to 
success.  Earl  Curzon,  the  former  Viceroy  of  India, 
told^  the  students  of  Cambridge  two  years  ago  that 
"never  was  eloquence,  i.  e.  the  power  of  moving  men  by 
speech,  more  potent  than  now;  never  was  it  more  useful, 
or  I  may  add,  more  admired  as  an  accomplishment." 
The  late  Senator  Hoar,  long  a  leader  in  the  United  States 
Senate,  declared  in  his  old  age:^ 

"The  longer  I  live,  the  more  I  have  come  to  value  the 
gift  of  eloquence.  .  .  .  Every  American  youth,  if 
he  desires  for  any  purpose  to  get  influence  over  his  country- 
men in  an  honorable  way,  will  seek  to  become  a  good 
public  speaker." 

FAoquence  and  oratory  are  words  which  easily  acquire 
bad  meanings;  for  the  art  of  public  speaking  is  readily 
prostituted  to  foolish  or  base  uses.  It  is  precisely  as 
easy  to  "emit  chatter  and  futility"  and  to  utter  lies  upon 
the  })latform  as  in  conversation;  though  there  is  more 
risk  of  exposure.  When  I  use  the  word  oratory,  I  shaU 
use  it  in  the  sense  assigned  by  Earl  Curzon  to  eloquence, 
"the  highest  maaiifistarfe^oja^of  the  power  of  speech. '1. 
It  was  used  in  its  sinister  meaning  by  Andrew  D.  White 
when  he  said  in  a  public  address,  "Nothing  is  so  cheap 
as  oratory." 

But  the  same  gentleman,  statesman,  educator  and 
Cornell's  Grand  Old  Man,  has  had  a  different  thought  in 
mind  when  on  several  occasions  he  has  invited  groups  of 
students  to  his  home  to  urge  them  to  improve  themselves 
in  public  speaking.     At  such  times  he  has  said  to  them 

^Modern  Parliamentary  Eloquence,  p.  4. 

2  Introduction  to  Vol.  XI  of  Reed's  Modern  Eloquence. 


INTRODUCTION  3 

that  while  there  is  much  regrettable  speaking  in  this 
country,  he  holds  it  particularly  important  that  young 
men  of  education  and  honor  should  train  themselves 
to  speak;  for  the  ability  to  speak  well  will  greatly  in- 
crease their  influence.  And  this  is  true  not  only  in  Amer- 
ica but  in  every  country  in  Europe,  unless  it  be  Russia. 

Two  motives  for  learning  to  speak  well  are  suggested 
by  the  preceding:  increasing  one's  chance  to  succeed 
and  increasing  one's  power  to  serve.  In  an  age  of  service 
and  in  an  age  when  educated  men  are  being  recognized 
as  leaders  as  never  before,  the  more  generous  motive 
must  appeal  to  young  men  with  force. 

Educators  are  waking  up  to  the  value  of  this  discipline. 
I  shall  cite  only  those  best  known  to  me.  President 
Schurman  has  often  spoken  publicly  of  its  value,  pointing 
out  that  the  decrease  in  the  influence  of  the  editorial 
writer  has  increased  the  importance  of  the  speaker. 
And  Dean  Crane  of  Cornell,  while  Acting  President  in 
1912-13,  used  his  influence  to  stimulate  interest  in  speak- 
ing. He  said  in  an  interview  granted  the  University's 
daily  paper: 

"It  is  interesting  to  note  the  great  revival  of  interest 
in  public  speaking  all  over  the  country  at  the  present 
time.  A  man  is  not  considered  educated  unless  he  can 
present  his  views  clearly  and  forcibly.  The  importance 
of  college  training  in  this  subject  has  been  emphasized 
at  more  than  one  alumni  banquet  this  year." 

To  the  assertion  that  the  press  has  taken  the  place  of 
the  speaker,  Senator  Dolliver  of  Iowa  replied: 

"There  need  be  no  fear  that  the  spoken  word  will  ever 
lose  its  power  to  influence  the  world.  The  newspaper 
will  have  no  more  potency  in  abolishing  the  political 
speech  than  the  Tract  Society  will  have  in  diminishing 
the  importance  of  the  preacher.  It  may  change,  and  in 
fact  already  has  changed,  not  only  the  taste  of  the  audience 
but  the  style  of  the  orator.     And  the  opinion  is  ventured 


4  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

here  that  in  both  cases  the  alteration  has  been  for  the 
better." 

There  is  no  good  in  discussing  the  comparative  import- 
ance of  press  and  platform  when  both  are  potent.  The 
press  has  its  important  function;  but  just  so  long  as  men 
are  influenced  by  personality  so  long  will  the  speaker, 
who  employs  this  influence  in  the  most  direct  way,  have 
his  place.  Let  me  quote,  not  from  an  orator,  but  from 
one  of  the  most  thoughtful  editorial  pages  in  America:^ 

*'The  strange  notion  that  the  day  of  the  orator  is  gone 
by  was  again  disproved  at  Saratoga.  [The  reference  is  to 
the  struggle  in  the  New  York  State  Republican  conven- 
tion in  1910.]  We  do  not  mean  that  there  was  much 
that  could  be  called  oratory,  but  it  is  plain  that  the  com- 
pleteness of  Roosevelt's  triumph  was  due,  in  some  measure^ 
to  his  ability  to  take  the  platform  for  a  vigorous  and  home- 
going  statement  of  what  he  wanted  to  impress  on  the  men 
before  him,  and  no  less  to  the  absence  of  any  one  of 
opposing  views  who  could  do  the  same  thing.  Great 
orators,  like  Mr.  Dooley's  'gre-a-at  iditors,'  may  be  all 
dead;  but  that  they  would  be  without  profession,  and 
have  to  turn  their  energies  to  writing  for  the  press,  if 
they  were  to  come  back,  is  preposterous." 

But  I  must  beware  of  alarming  some  with  this  talk  of 
orators  and  oratory,  of  political  affairs  and  great  influence. 
While  every  year  there  come  into  my  classes  students 
who  wish  to  become  orators,  there  are  also  others  who 
are  much  afraid  that  they  may  be  tricked  into  oratory 
against  their  will.  They  need  not  fear.  No  one  will  be 
an  orator  till  there  are  added  to  skill  a  message  and  an 
occasion.  But  with  the  real  desires  of  these  students 
I  have  full  sympathy.  In  the  first  place,  they  do  not 
wish  to  take  up  work  in  which  they  will  be  expected  to 
deliver  bombastic  clap-trap,  which  is  their  idea  of  oratory; 
and  in  the  second  place,  they  wish  to  learn  how  to  speak 
effectively  in  a  plain  way  in  their  business  and  professional 

iThe  New  York  Evening  Post.  October  1.  1910. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

affairs.  The  teachings  of  this  text  are  as  appUcable  to 
such  simple  speeches  as  to  the  grandest  "efforts."  They 
will  apply  as  well  to  getting  a  job,  or  persuading  the  town 
council  to  put  in  a  sewage  system,  as  to  "moving  the 
listening  thousands"  to  favor  great  reforms. 

That  these  students  are  right  in  their  hope  that  ability 
to  speak  well  will  help  them  in  their  practical  affairs  is 
testified  to  by  many.  Justice  Hughes,  when  he  was 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  New  York  bar,  in  a  lecture  before 
the  Cornell  College  of  Law  urged  the  students  to  cultivate 
public  speaking.  That  the  trial  lawyer  needs  this 
ability  is  patent;  but  we  are  told  that  this  is  the  day  of 
the  "office  lawyer."  An  important  member  of  the  law 
department  of  one  of  our  greatest  railways,  a  strictly 
office  lawyer,  tells  me  he  is  greatly  hampered  by  his 
inability  to  make  a  speech,  and  that  he  could  serve  his 
company  much  better  if  he  were  able  to  represent  it, 
particularly  at  dinners.  But  what  of  those  men  of  deeds, 
the  engineers.^  The  dean  of  a  certain  college  of  civil 
engineering  declares  that  if  graduates  in  engineering 
could  have  thorough  training  in  speaking,  and  some  train- 
ing in  law,  they  could  take  their  places  as  presidents  of 
all  the  corporations  in  the  land.  In  the  new  generation, 
he  holds,  the  engineer  will  cease  to  be  the  hired  man  and 
will  take  charge  of  affairs.  A  graduate  of  the  same  college, 
a  practicing  engineer,  has  established  generous  prizes 
to  encourage  engineering  students  to  cultivate  skill  of 
speech.  And  in  opening  the  contest  last  year,  the 
dean  of  a  college  of  mechanical  engineering  declared 
that  the  donor  of  the  prizes  had  acted  wisely  in  anticipating 
the  future;  and  that  the  engineer  must  be  able  to  carry 
conviction  of  the  truth  of  his  results,  for  otherwise  great 
enterprises  cannot  be  carried  on. 

In  a  certain  university  the  only  students  required  to 
take  a  course  in  public  speaking  are  those  in  sanitary 


6  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

engineering  and  in  architecture.  The  reason  for  this 
requirement  is  that  the  faculties  concerned  have  been 
impressed  ^^'ith  the  failures  of  certain  practitioners  to 
secure  acceptance  for  excellent  plans,  when  presenting 
them  before  boards  and  committees. 

Mr.  H.  M.  Waite,  City  Manager  of  Dayton, .writes: 

"I  am  delighted  to  hear  that  at  last  some  of  the  universities  are  paying 
some  attention  to  what  I  have  felt  for  some  time  was  of  great  importance; 
that  is,  the  teaching  of  engineers  to  express  themselves.  .  .  It  isn't 
oratory  that  is  necessary.  It  is  simply  that  men  in  the  engineering 
profession  should  have  experience  in  presenting  their  propositions  before 
people." 

But  no  class  of  men  dwell  more  earnestly  on  the  ability 
to  speak  well  than  those  who  describe  themselves  as 
"plain  business  men."  "It  isn't  oratory  I  want,"  such 
a  man  hastens  to  say,  "but  just  the  ability  to  get  up  and 
say  what  I  think  when  things  are  being  discussed." 
And  those  who  have  had  a  little  training  will  testify 
to  its  help  in  meeting  and  dealing  with  men  in  all  sorts 
of  relations;  for  example,  in  dealing  with  their  work- 
men, in  selling  goods,  and  in  taking  part  in  the  affairs  of 
their  communities.  Of  course  men  do  succeed  in  most 
vocations  without  the  ability  to  make  a  speech.  The  just 
claim  is  that  they  find  this  ability  a  help  in  most  callings 
and  indispensable  in  some. 

Let  those  who  shy  at  the  thought  of  "oratory,"  or  even 
"public  speaking,"  forget  those  words  and  think  in  terms 
of  attention.  We  shall  find  that  that  is  the  essential 
thing,  attention  and  the  right  sort  of  attention,  whether 
we  are  trying  to  tell  people  things,  or  to  get  them  to  be- 
lieve things  or  to  do  things;  whether  we  consider  the  case 
of  the  teacher,  the  preacher,  the  reformer,  the  solicitor, 
the  salesman,  or  any  other  who  seeks  to  exert  influence. 
President  Lowell  has  written,^  "For  anyone  who  desires 
to  advocate  a  new  idea,  the  difficulty  is  not  so  much  to 
convince  as  to  get  a  hearing,  not  so  much  to  be  judged 

^Public  Opinion  and  Popular  Government,  p.  59. 


INTRODUCTION  7 

fairly  as  to  be  judged  at  all."  And  he  dwells  upon  the 
need  of  advertising  new  ideas.  Now  public  speaking 
is  an  important  means  of  advertising,  or  drawing  atten- 
tion to,  ideas.  We  shall  be  more  and  more  impressed 
with  this  truth  as  we  proceed. 

But  should  speaking  be  studied?  To  some,  speaking  is 
a  wonderful  art,  requiring  remarkable  powers  which  must 
be  the  gift  of  nature.  It  is  true  that  a  liberal  natural 
endowment  is  necessary  to  the  great  orator;  but  I  have  met 
with  extremely  few  who  could  not  by  persistent  effort 
become  good  speakers.  There  are  others  who  think  that 
speaking  is  too  simple  for  study;  asif  a  subject  which  is  con- 
cerned at  every  point  with  human  nature  could  be  simple ! 

*'But  is  it  not  just  a  matter  of  practice?"  some  ask. 
Well,  practice  and  experience  are  absolutely  essential. 
Without  practical  experience,  no  textbook  and  no  course 
of  training  is  worth  while.  It  is  quite  true  that  many 
have  become  good  speakers,  even  orators,  without  such 
aids.  All  book  and  all  school  training,  in  whatever  field 
of  endeavor,  are  subject  to  the  same  limitation.  Gradu- 
ally the  conviction  has  gained  ground,  however,  that  law- 
yers, physicians,  engineers,  and  now  farmers  too,  are 
better  for  the  training  of  books  and  schools;  or  rather 
that  they  are  best  trained  by  a  judicious  combination 
of  what  the  narrowly  practical  man  is  apt  contemptu- 
ously to  call  "theory,"  and  experience  gained,  at  first, 
under  skilled  supervision.  Particularly  is  it  true  that 
progress  in  any  field  depends  upon  the  development  of 
theory.  Cabbages  have  been  grown  for  centuries;  and 
yet  on  a  farm  I  visited  the  other  day  the  farmer,  by  the 
application  of  the  much  despised  theories  of  the  schools, 
was  producing  ten  tons  of  cabbages  more  to  the  acre  than 
his  neighbors.  Now,  if  by  study  one  can  improve  his 
methods  of  raising  cabbages,  why  can  he  not  by  study 
improve  the  methods  of  planting  and  growing  ideas? 


8  PUBLIC    SPEAKING 

We  study  everything  in  these  days;  even  sport.  It  is 
quite  true  that  a  man  may  have  a  natural  gait  which  will 
enable  him  to  win  a  race  over  the  best  trained  men;  but 
we  should  all  have  more  confidence  in  the  runner  who 
has  both  natural  ability  and  training.  A  runner  may 
train  himself,  and  to  a  great  extent  he  must,  as  one  must 
in  speaking  or  anything  else;  but  he  gets  on  faster  and 
more  surely  with  the  help  of  one  who  has  studied  running 
and  observed  many  in  their  development.  The  "get- 
there"  stroke  sometimes  wins  a  boat  race;  but  those 
crews  whose  stroke  is  the  product  of  long  study  of  ease 
and  efficiency,  most  often  * 'sweep  the  river." 

Many  of  those  who  have  succeeded  without  aid  will 
testify  to  the  great  adxantage  they  might  have  gained 
by  early  training.  Others  please  their  vanity  by  cultivat- 
ing the  myth  that  they  have  succeeded  without  effort. 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  an  orator  whose  easy  ways 
caused  people  to  assume  that  he  could  not  help  being  a 
great  speaker;  but  no  man  has  testified  more  earnestly 
to  the  benefits  of  study  and  training  for  public  speaking.^ 
His  ease  was  the  product  of  training. 

But  what  is  to  be  learned?  The  follo^vHing  pages  are 
the  best  answer  I  can  give  to  this  question.  Briefly, 
a  student  of  speaking  can  learn  much  about  the  choice 
of  topics,  about  finding  material,  and  about  preparing 
his  speech.  He  can  learn  much  about  "thinking  on  his 
feet";  about  the  action  of  his  own  mind;  about  the  rela- 
tion of  speaker  to  audience;  and  much,  very  much  indeed, 
About  audiences,  and  how  to  adapt  material  for  the  pur- 
pose of  interesting,  informing,  convmcing  and  persuading 
them.  And  what  he  learns  he  must  train  himself  to  use. 
Many  things  stressed  in  this  text  any  intelligent  reader 
knows,  in  a  sense;  but  many  an  intelligent  reader,  never- 
theless, needs  to  train  himself  long  before  he  can  realize 

^See  his  lecture  on  Oratory  and  his  Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching, 


INTRODUCTION  9 

in  practice  what  he  knows.  In  particular  he  must  train 
his  mental  action  on  the  platform,  and  he  must  develop 
his  sense  of  an  audience.  Any  intelligent  man  knows  the 
purposes  of  speaking;  but  most  find  long  experience 
necessary  before  they  can  actually  relate  themselves 
to  an  audience  in  the  right  way.  That  is  in  part  a  matter 
of  self-control,  and  in  part  a  matter  of  growing  gradually 
to  realize  the  nature  of  an  audience. 

No  attempt  is  made  in  these  pages  to  reveal  a  royal 
road  to  eloquence.  There  is  no  way  to  make  a  good  speech 
without  having  something  to  say  worth  saying.  At- 
tempts to  ignore  this  truth  bring  public  speaking  into 
discredit.  But  we  need  not  run  away  with  another  half 
truth  and  assert  that  the  something  to  say  is  all  that  is 
necessary.  Given  something  to  say,  desire  to  say  it  and 
a  proper  opportunity,  a  good  speech  has  become  possible. 
But  there  is  no  need  for  arguing  the  pretty  theory  that 
nothing  more  is  needed;  for  we  all  know  men  who  have 
much  to  say  and  tiy  hard  to  say  it,  with  the  poorest 
results. 

Besides  having  something  to  say,  a  speaker  must  be 
able  to  think;  not  only  to  think,  but  to  say  what  he 
thinks;  not  only  to  say  it,  but  to  make  others  listen  to 
it,  understand  it  and  feel  the  force  of  it.  Some  who  can 
do  all  else,  simply  cannot  deliver  a  speech.  We  wish 
they  would  write  down  what  they  have  to  say,  and  let 
us  read  it.  To  take  a  sane  view  of  this  subject  we  must 
take  account  of  all  that  enters  into  the  success  of  a  speech, 
— the  topic,  the  subject-matter,  its  formulation  and  its 
delivery;  and  all  this,  though  not  all  of  it  can  be  treated 
fully  in  one  text,  comes  within  the  scope  of  this  work. 

But  what  can  be  done  in  college  classes.'^  This  is  a 
question  that  is  best  answered  by  experience.  It  is  a 
fact  that  students  do  learn  to  speak  well  in  college  classes, 
and  learn  to  speak  in  such  a  way  that  they  do  not  have  to 


10  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

unlearn  in  practical  life,  but  only  to  go  on  developing. 
It  is  quite  true  that  a  student  in  one  of  these  classes  may 
at  times  learn  more  in  one  evening  of  experience  outside 
than  in  a  month  of  work  in  the  class.  The  soldier  learns 
in  his  first  battle  what  years  of  drill  could  not  teach  him. 
And  yet  the  magnificent  German  fighting  machine  was 
trained  without  actual  fighting  to  a  high  pitch  of  readiness. 
But  do  not  suppose  that  the  parallel  is  exact;  for  the 
practice  work  of  a  class  in  public  speaking  can  be  made 
more  real  than  any  mock  battle.  If  you  are  doubtful 
come  to  m;^  class  when  it  is  discussing  athletics,  or  women's 
suffrage,  or  the  European  war,  with  neutrality  thrown 
to  the  winds.     No  mock  skirmishes  these,  but  War  I 

I  have  kept  in  mind  in  writing  this  text  the  man  who 
must  "work  out  his  own  salvation,"  without  class  instruc- 
tion. I  believe  that  a  person  who  has  the  intelligence 
to  understand  and  apply  the  principles  set  forth  and  who 
has  opportunity  for  actual  practice,  can  succeed  in  becom- 
ing an  effective  speaker, — especially  if  he  is  so  fortunate 
as  to  have  a  capable  and  candid  friend  to  criticize  him. 

Nevertheless,  I  believe  that  there  are  advantages  in 
class  work.  The  ideal  way  is  to  have  class  work  and  out- 
side practice  also.  In  class  one  has  the  advantage  of 
making  his  first  efforts  along  with  others  in  a  similar  situa- 
tion, and  this  eases  the  embarrassment.  Again,  while 
failure  always  has  a  weakening  effect,  it  is  likely  to  be  less 
disastrous  in  class  than  before  other  audiences.  One  has 
also  the  stimulus  of  working  with  others  who  are  trying 
to  do  the  same  thing.  He  has  more  opportunity  for 
speaking  in  a  variety  of  ways  and  on  a  variety  of  topics 
than  he  is  likely  to  have  elsewhere. 

But  perhaps  the  greatest  advantage  is  that  he  can  get 
honest,  intelligent  criticism  by  one  who  is  trained  to  the 
work  and  who  has  had  experience  in  watching  the  develop- 
ment of  many  other  students.     Competent  criticism  is 


INTRODUCTION  11 

extremely  hard  to  get  elsewhere.  There  are  enough  to  con- 
demn or  ridicule  us,  and  our  friends  are  quick  to  tell  us  we 
do  splendidly;  but  few  will  tell  us  the  truth.  There  are 
few  who  are  candid  enough,  and  fewer  still  discriminating 
enough  for  that.  The  unskillful  will  usually  touch  upon 
the  incidental  rather  than  the  essential;  they  will  base 
their  comments  upon  a  very  mechanical  ^^iew  of  the 
subject,  and  they  will  usually  criticize  too  much.  The 
teacher,  on  the  other  hand,  should  be  capable,  and  it  is 
to  his  self-interest  to  tell  you  the  truth  in  order  that  you 
do  his  work  credit.  When  j^ou  do  find  anywhere  a 
competent  non-professional  critic,  you  should  "grapple 
him  to  thy  soul  with  hooks  of  steel."  He  is  more  likely 
to  be  found  in  one's  speaking  class  than  elsewhere. 
The  comments  of  student  on  student  are  not  the  least 
of  the  advantages  of  such  a  course. 

Among  my  treasures  is  this,  written  in  the  firm  hand  of  Andrew  D. 
White,  in  response  to  a  request  for  a  word  to  fraternity  students  about 
debating: 

"Let  every  student  worthy  of  the  name, — whether  fraternity  man  or 
not — make  the  most  of  his  university  opportunities  for  debate  and 
pubhc  speech.  Such  chances  and  such  training  he  will  not  easily  find 
again." 

I  wish  now  to  suggest  another  reason  for  studying 
public  speaking  which  may  not  be  as  e\adent  as  those 
mentioned;  that  is,  that  the  study  is  educational  in  every 
sense  of  the  term.  To  gain  in  practical  efiiciency  is, 
of  course,  a  part  of  education ;  but  this  is  not  all.  As  has 
been  suggested,  to  become  a  good  speaker  is  to  become 
to  some  degree  a  leader.  It  wdll  be  increasingly  evident 
that  the  principles  of  public  speaking  are  the  principles 
of  influence.  To  interest,  to  inform,  to  convince  and  to 
persuade, — these  are  the  purposes  of  the  speaker.  Again, 
it  is  a  truism  that  the  leader  must  be  a  man  of  self- 
control,  and  to  gain  power  with  audiences  involves  gaining 
self-control.  It  was  Emerson  who  said,  "If  I  should 
make  the  shortest  list  of  the  qualifications  of  the  orator. 


12  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

I  should  begin  with  manhness;  and  perhaps  it  means 
here,  presence  of  mind."  We  shall  see  very  clearly  in 
the  first  chapter  the  importance  of  presence  of  mind  and 
self-possession;  and  we  shall  realize  increasingly  in  later 
chapters  the  necessity  for  command  of  thought  and 
feeling. 

Education  should  also  develop  individuality,  and  enable 
a  man  to  stand  out  from  the  mass  and  on  his  own  feet. 
A  course  in  public  speaking  takes  a  student  off  the  back 
seat,  puts  him  up  before  his  fellows  and  compels  him  to 
do  something  on  his  own  responsibility,  to  express  his  own 
ideas  and  impress  them  upon  others. 

But  we  may  go  further.  William  James  has  declared: 
^*'No  reception  without  reaction,  no  impression  without 
correlative  expression, — this  is  the  great  maxim  which 
the  teacher  ought  never  to  forget."  Yet  in  how  much  of 
our  college  work  is  there  encouragement  to  reaction  and 
expression  on  the  part  of  students.^  To  sit  on  the  small 
of  one's  back,  to  absorb  a  httle  from  lectures  and  assigned 
readings,  to  squeeze  the  mental  sponge  out  on  an  examina- 
tion paper — so  dry  that  only  a  trifle  of  sediment  is  left, — 
this  too  of  ten  is  education  under  the  lecture  system.  It  is 
a  system  worse  even  than  the  old  textbook  method  which 
it  has  superseded;  for  that  did  provide  for  some  class 
discussion.  I  do  not  know  that  it  would  be  wise  for 
distinguished  scholars  who  are  also  good  lecturers,  to 
keep  still  while  sophomores  talk;  but  at  any  rate  it  is 
clear  that  our  present  methods  make  it  highly  desirable 
that  there  be  some  courses  in  which  the  student  has  oppor- 
tunity for  self-expression,  in  which  he  has  an  opportunity 
to  formulate  and  express  and  thus  clarify  and  develop 
his  ideas.  We  are  told  that  the  father  of  Woodrow 
Wilson,  "beheved  that  nobody  had  grasped  a  thought 
until  he  could  put  it  quickly  and  definitely  into  words. 

^Talks  to  Teachers,  p.  33. 


INTRODUCTION  13 

This    he    did    himself    and    this    he   taught    his    son  to 
do." 

One  recalls  Brendel  in  Ibsen's  Rosmersholm.  All  his  life  he  has  been 
intoxicating  himself  with  what  he  believes  very  wonderful  thoughts, 
which  have  taken  shape  in  his  mind  in  "poems,  visions,  pictures — in 
the  rough'';  but  he  has  Refused  to  give  them  to  the  world,  saying,  "Why 
should  I  profane  my  own  ideals?"  At  last  stirred  by  the  currents  of 
the  time,  he  resolves  to  "sacrifice  them  on  the  altar  of  Emancipation." 
But,  alas!  "Just  as  I  am  standing  ready,"  he  explains  later,  "to  pour 
forth  the  horn  of  plenty,  I  make  the  painful  discovery  that  I  am  bank- 
rupt. For  five-and-twenty  years  I  have  sat  like  a  miser  on  his  double- 
locked  treasure-chest.  And  then  yesterday — when  I  open  it  and  want 
to  display  the  treasure — there's  none  there!" 

Altogether,  this  study  is  as  valuable  a  discipline  and 
as  cultural,  as  well  adapted  to  developing  and  giving 
control  of  one's  powers  and  to  "freeing  the  soul  from 
fear,"  as  any  study  in  the  curriculum. 

To  those  who  have  an  honest  fear  that  this  study  may 
develop  in  them  affectations,  such  as  cause  the  objection 
of  many  sensible  folk  to  the  "elocutionist,"  let  me  say 
that  all  depends  upon  the  way  the  subject  is  taken  up. 
If  it  is  studied  as  principally  a  matter  of  delivery,  as  a 
matter  of  tricks,  of  making  fine  birds  with  naught  but 
fine  feathers,  the  danger  is  very  great.  But  if  we  study 
speaking  strictly  as  a  means  to  an  end,  as  the  means  of 
influencing  audiences,  the  danger  is  small.  Strangely 
enough  the  end  is  often  lost  sight  of  m  the  study  of  the 
means.  Frequently  the  audience  is  forgotten.  But 
when  the  ends  of  speech  are  kept  in  mind,  it  is  then  safe 
to  give  due  attention  to  any  matter  which  affects  those 
ends. 

It  must  be  evident  from  the  preceding  that  in  this 
book  we  are  to  deal  with  practical  public  speaking.     This 
is  not  a  book  on  elocution,  except  as  elocution  is  incidental   1 
to  practical  speaking;   and  with  parlor  elocution  we  have 
no  concern.     It  is  not  a  w^ork  on  oral  reading,  although 


14  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

portions  of  the  book  are  applicable  to  that  study.  It 
discusses  the  principles  and  makes  suggestions  which 
should  be  helpful  to  one  who  wishes  to  present  his  own 
ideas  in  his  own  way,  for  the  purpose  of  interesting, 
informing,  convincing  or  persuading  his  hearers.  In 
the  sense  that  the  public  speaker  may  arise  to  the  heights 
of  eloquence  which  we  call  oratory,  the  book  deals  with 
that  subject;  but  it  is  intended  to  help  speakers  in  com- 
monplace as  well  as  in  extraordinary^  situations.  It  is 
not  designed  for  the  encouragement  of  "college  oratory," 
if  we  may  use  that  term  to  describe  a  sort  of  speaking 
which  is  sometimes  developed  in  colleges  and  which 
would  be  impossible  elsewhere. 

Indeed,  this  book  is  not  designed  to  encourage  public 
speaking  at  all.  Heaven  forfend!  I  hope  it  will  tend 
toward  the  suppression  of  much  public  speaking,^ — of 
bad  public  speaking,  and  most  of  it  is  bad.  I  have  no 
desire  to  develop  the  "gift  of  gab,"  or  the  fluency  which 
many  a  beginner  longs  for,  but  which  is  rarely  lacking 
after  a  little  practice.  Fluency  is  a  grave  danger.  It 
tempts  to  utterance  too  frequent  and  too  profuse.  Mere 
fluency  is  as  ineffectual  as  the  flow  of  a  hose  without  a 
nozzle;  it  does  not  carry.  A  serious  study  of  this  subject 
should  so  increase  one's  respect  for  the  power  of  speech 
and  give  one  such  a  realization  of  the  difficulty  and  the 
responsibility  of  holding  the  attention  for  ten  minutes  or 
an  hour  of  a  hundred  or  a  thousand  people,  that  speaking 
will  not  be  undertaken  lightly,  without  something  to  say 
worth  saying  or  without  due  preparation. 

As  regards  delivery,  I  hope  the  teaching  here  set  forth 
will  help  in  attaining  a  style  at  once  simple  and  effective. 
It  is  based  upon  the  belief  that  "right  speaking  depends 
upon  right  thinking;"  but  this  theor>^  will  amount  to 
little  unless  we  closely  consider  what  right  thinking 
means  and  how  it  may  be  attained.     Those  advocates 


INTRODUCTION  15 

of  dogmatic  rules  and  mechanical  study  of  delivery  who 
ridicule  the  claim  that  the  all  sufficient  direction  is 
"Think,"  are  justified,  if  we  stop  with  that.  We  must 
improve  our  thinking  and  learn  to  think  like  speakers. 

This  is  not  a  book  of  thumb  rules;  for  a  subject  so 
complicated,  which  deals  with  human  nature  so  con- 
stantly, cannot  safely  be  reduced  to  fixed  rules.  Half 
the  time  the  rules  will  not  apply;  and  often  they  are  mis- 
leading. "It  is  better  not  to  know  so  much  than  to  know 
so  much  that  isn't  so."  There  is  no  escape  from  the 
necessity  of  being  intelligent  on  the  subject,  from  under- 
standing the  principles  which  lie  back  of  rules,  and  thus 
understanding  their  limitations  and  how  to  apply  the 
suggestions  made  to  new  situations.  One  should  know 
the  principles,  too,  in  order  that  his  practical  experience 
and  his  observation  of  other  speakers  may  be  as  fruitful 
as  possible.  The  man  whose  mind  is  fixed  on  a  set  of 
rules  will  fail  to  see  the  truth  that  experience  reveals 
when  it  seems  to  escape  his  rules ;  or  he  must  unlearn  his 
rules. 

Since  I  am  writing  for  college  students  and  others 
of  equal  understanding,  I  feel  the  more  justified  in  avoiding 
dogmatic  teaching  and  in  attempting  to  develop  in  my 
readers  a  speaker's  intelligence.  Indeed,  no  other  way 
is  w^orthy  of  those  for  whom  I  write.  The  book  is  perhaps 
a  sufficient  answer  to  the  naive  freshman  who,  when  he 
came  to  ask  me  about  my  course,  exclaimed  "Gee,  I 
don't  see  how  you  can  make  that  stuff  hard!"  But  while 
there  is  no  attempt  made  to  dodge  natural  difficulties 
and  offer  "public  speaking  made  easy,"  neither  is  there 
an  attempt  to  make  the  subject  more  difficult  than  an 
intelligent  treatment  makes  necessary.  That  would  be  a 
sorry  business  indeed.  Rather  by  careful  illustration 
I  have  tried  to  be  as  clear  as  possible.  If  at  any  point 
the  reader  thinks  I  have  dwelt  unnecessarily  upon  the 


16  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

obvious,  I  can  only  say  that  I  have  written  constantly 

out  of  the  memory  of  class-room  struggles. 

"We  shall  now  proceed  to  the  subject  of  delivery,  not  because  it  is  of 
principal  importance,  but  because  the  student  should  begin  at  once 
to  deliver  speeches,  and  he  probably  is  more  worried  about  delivery 
than  about  subject-matter;  and  also  because  the  discussion  of  delivery 
furnishes  a  good  opportunity  for  establishing  a  desirable  view-point 
for  the  whole  subject.  A  general  reader  who  is  more  interested  in  other 
phases  of  the  subject  may  turn  at  once  to  Chapters  III,  IV,  and  V,  and 
then  proceed  to  Chapter  X. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE      PROBLEM      OF      DELIVERY CONVERSING      WITH 

AN  AUDIENCE 

Imagine  all  memory  of  speech-making  to  be  blotted  out, 
so  that  there  is  no  person  in  the  world  who  remembers 
that  he  has  ever  made  a  speech  or  heard  a  speech. 
Imagine,  too,  all  speeches  and  all  references  to  speeches 
in  literature,  to  be  blotted  out;  so  that  there  is  left  no  clue 
to  this  art.  Is  this  the  end  of  speech-making?  Here 
comes  a  man  who  has  seen  a  great  race,  or  has  been  in 
a  great  battle,  or  is  on  fire  with  enthusiasm  for  a  cause. 
He  begins  to  talk  with  a  friend  he  meets  on  the  street; 
others  gather,  twenty,  fifty,  a  hundred.  Interest  grows 
intense;  he  lifts  his  voice  that  all  may  hear.  But  the 
crowd  wishes  to  hear  and  see  the  speaker  better.  "Get 
up  on  this  cart!"  they  cry;  and  he  mounts  the  cart  and 
goes  on  with  his  story  or  his  plea. 

A  private  conversation  has  become  a  public  speech; 
but  under  the  circumstances  imagined  it  is  thought  of 
only  as  a  conversation,  as  an  enlarged  conversation.  It 
does  not  seem  abnormal,  but  quite  the  natural  thing. 
When  does  the  talker  or  converser  become  a  speech- 
maker.^  When  ten  persons  gather?  Fifty?  Or  is  it 
when  he  gets  on  the  cart?  Is  there  any  real  change  in 
the  nature  or  the  spirit  of  the  act?  Is  it  not  essentially 
the  same  throughout,  a  conversation  adapted  as  the  talker 
proceeds  to  the  growing  number  of  his  hearers?  There 
may  be  a  change  of  course,  if  he  becomes  self-conscious; 
but  assuming  that  interest  in  story  or  argument  remains 
the  dominant  emotion,  there  is  no  essential  change  in 
his  speaking.  It  is  probable  that  with  the  increasing 
importance  of  his  position  and  the  increasing  tension  of 

17 


18  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

feeling  that  comes  with  numbers,  he  gradually  modifies 
his  tone  and  his  diction,  and  permits  himself  to  launch 
into  a  bolder  strain  and  a  wider  range  of  ideas  and 
feelings  than  in  ordinary  conversation;  but  the  change  is 
in  degree  and  not  in  kind.  He  is  conversing  with  an 
audience. 

Nor  is  the  situation  essentially  different  if,  instead 
of  our  imagined  case,  our  hero  of  field  or  forum  is  invited 
to  speak  before  a  society,  and  this  time  has  notice  before- 
hand, has  prepared,  and  speaks  in  a  prepared  room, 
with  a  chairman  introducing  him,  his  hearers  arriving 
at  a  fixed  time  and  sitting  down  in  regular  array.  There 
are  differences  to  be  sure;  but  these  differences  do  not 
change  the  nature  of  the  act  of  speech. 
^  I  wish  you  to  see  that  public  speaking  is  a  perfectly 
natural  act,  which  calls  for  no  strange,  artificial  methods, 
but  only  for  an  extension  and  development  of  that  most 
familiar  act,  conversation.  If  you  grasp  this  idea  you 
will  be  saved  from  much  wasted  effort. 

Public  and  Private  Speech  Compared.  Let  us  examine 
the  more  important  differences  which  will  occur  to  the 
reader  of  this  chapter.  First,  it  may  be  said,  a_public 
speak£i:^alks  more  loudly  than  Qne_Jn  conversation . 
Well,  a  public  speaker,  just  as  a  private  speaker, 
should  speak  so  as  to  be  heard  without  strain.  If  you 
have  occasion  to  speak  to  a  person  at  the  other  end  of 
a  long  table,  you  raise  your  voice.  If  you  ^Nish  to  speak 
across  a  noisy  stream,  you  may  have  to  shout.  This 
would  not  be  ordinary  speaking  to  be  sure,  but  it  is  still 
conversation  and  not  at  all  abnormal.  The  difference 
is  altogether  a  vocal  one.  You  speak  loud  enough  tciJje 
heard. 

Again,  one  is  told,  the  public  speaker  does  all  the  talk- 
ing; in  conversation  there  is  a  give  and  take.  These 
statements  are  misleading.     There  are  many  con  versa- 


CONVERSING  WITH  AN  AUDIENCE  19 

tions  in  which  one  party  does  all  or  nearly  all  the  talking. 
Because  an  old  man  talks  continuously  to  a  young  man 
who  listens  respectfully,  we  do  not  say  the  old  man  is 
making  a  speech.  Our  imaginary  speaker  talked  con- 
tinuously before  he  got  on  the  cart,  wdth  but  httle  response 
from  his  hearers.  Nor  is  it  true  that  the  public  speaker 
does  all  the  talking.  The  audience  applauds  and  thereby 
says,  "We  approve."  It  may  hiss  and  thereby  say, 
*'We  disapprove."  Questions  may  be  asked  and  en- 
couragement shouted.  But  all  these  expressions  are 
only  audible  signs  of  what  is  going  on  in  any  audience 
whether  quiet  or  not.  His  auditors  are  thinking  answers 
to  the  speaker's  questions,  or  asking  him  questions,  or 
assenting,  or  making  objections;  and  the  experienced 
speaker  has  learned  to  read  less  demonstrative,  but  no 
less  certain  signs  of  the  thoughts  and  moods  of  his  hearers. 
He  can  tell  by  attitude  and  facial  expression  whether  the 
other  party  to  this  conversation  is  interested  or  bored, 
approves  or  disapproves,  understands  or  is  puzzled,  and 
he  amplifies  or  touches  lightly  a  point  in  accordance  with 
what  he  sees.  The  story  is  told  of  how  Rufus  Choate 
reiterated  the  arguments  and  pleas  of  one  of  his  jury 
addresses  for  three  hours  after  eleven  men  were  won, 
until  he  saw  the  stern  face  of  the  twelfth  juror  relax  in 
sympathy.  Many  a  passage  of  good  oratorical  prose 
can  be  turned  into  a  dialogue  by  writing  out  the  ques- 
tions and  objections  that  lie  plainly  between  the  lines. 
(See  for  example  the  selection  from  Curtis 's  Public  Duty 
of  Educated  Men,  printed  at  the  end  of  chapter  IX.) 
J  The  young  speaker  can  do  nothing  better  for  himself 
than  to  fix  firmly  in  mind  that  public  speaking  is  a  dialogue 
and  to  emphasize  constantly  the  part_of_the— audience,, 
anticipatiog-^and  watching  for  its  response. 

A  third  difference  is  said  to  be  that  the  public  speaker 
prepares,  while  the  converser  speaks  as  things  occur  to 


20  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

him.  It  is  true  that  a  public  speaker  should  prepare 
when  there  is  opportunity;  but  he  is  none  the  less  a 
public  speaker  because  he  is  too  indolent,  or  too  busy, 
or  is  called  upon  too  suddenly.  Nor  is  a  man  less  a 
converser  because  he  prepares  for  a  private  conversation. 

Suppose  a  student  is  chairman  of  a  committee  formed  for  resistance 
to  the  aboUtion  of  cherished  hoHdays.  This  student  has  an  appoint- 
ment with  the  President  of  the  University  for  the  purpose  of  present- 
ing the  views  of  the  student  body.  He  talks  with  his  committee. 
One  says,  "This  is  a  good  argument  to  use."  Another,  "That  is  not 
the  way  to  put  it;  this  is  the  way  to  reach  the  President."  After 
discussing  the  arguments,  the  chairman  remembers  that  the  Presi- 
dent has  promised  him  but  ten  minutes.  He  must  cut  out  some  argu- 
ments and  find  brief  ways  of  presenting  others;  and  by  the  time  of 
his  appointment  he  knows  just  about  what  he  intends  to  say  and  how 
he  will  say  it.  We  will  suppose  that  the  President  says  very  little, 
simply  listens  attentively  with  but  an  occasional  question.  We  are 
assuming  a  wise  student;  hence  he  does  not  take  a  loafing  attitude  or 
talk  slang.  He  talks  as  directly  and  pointedly  and  in  as  good  language 
as  he  can  and  stops  on  time.  Has  he  made  a  speech  or  conversed? 
Conversed,  of  course;  but  he  has  sifted  his  ideas,  adapted  them  to  his 
hearer,  and  has  not  presumed  upon  his  hearer's  time.  He  has  followed 
a  method  excellent  for  a  public  speaker. 

Suppose  further,  that  at  the  end  of  the  conversation  the  President 
says,  "Mr.  Smith,  I  wish  you  would  come  to  the  faculty  meeting  to- 
morrow and  say  there  what  you  have  here."  At  faculty  meeting 
our  chairman  has  fifty  or  a  hundred  hearers.  He  has  to  raise  his  voice 
a  bit,  he  stands  up,  perhaps  no  questions  are  asked;  but  if  he  has  the 
good  sense  and  self-control  to  talk  to  the  faculty  in  the  same  spirit 
and  largely  in  the  same  manner  as  when  he  spoke  to  the  President 
alone,  he  will  probably  make  an  effective  Speech. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  adopts  a  tone  and  manner  strange  to  him- 
self, but  which  he  may  consider  as  belonging  to  speech-making,  he  may 
easily  be  ridiculous. 

It  is  a  matter  of  adaptation.  If  we  are  told  that  pubHc 
speaking  demands  more  dignity  of  manner  or  of  language, 
the  answer  is  already  plain:  All  depends  upon  circum- 
stances. Our  student,  though  discussing  the  same 
subject,  talks  to  a  fellow  student  in  a  more  free  and  easy 


CONVERSING  WITH  AN  AUDIENCE  21 

way  than  to  the  President,  and  he  talks  to  the  faculty 
in  a  manner  different  from  that  in  which  he  addresses 
a  meeting  of  the  student  body.  In  a  similar  way  can  be 
met  other  arguments  made  to  prove  that  public  speaking 
and  private  conversation  are  essentially  different  acts, 
and  that  therefore  the  former  calls  for  essentially  different 
methods. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  do  not  maintain  that  public  and 
private  speech  are  ordinarily  just  alike.  We  usually 
have  no  difficulty  in  distinguishing  conversation  from 
speech-making.  Conventional  differences,  such  as  that 
the  public  speaker  usually  stands  before  a  considerable 
group  to  talk  while  the  converser  usually  does  not,  make 
a  distinction.  Ordinarily,  too,  the  pubHc  speaker  does 
speak  more  loudly,  does  talk  more  continuously,  does 
make  more  preparation,  and  especially  he  does  have 
to  deal  with  more  minds.  These  and  other  differences 
may  be  important.  They  may  make  public  speaking 
seem  quite  different  from  private  speaking;  but  since 
there  is  practically  nothing  true  of  public  speaking  that 
may  not  be  true  at  times  of  conversation  and  nothing 
true  of  conversation  that  may  not  be  true  of  public  speak- 
ing, we  can  hardly  hold  the  differences  essential.  They 
are  not  essential  to  the  problem  of  delivery,  and  partic- 
ularly to  the  narrow  phase  of  delivery  we  are  about  to 
consider,  the  delivery  of  sentences  with  correct  emphasis, 
pause,  pitch  and  inflection.  Still,  despite  the  essential 
identity  of  public  and  private  speaking,  it  is  misleading 
to  say  that  one  speaks  to  an  audience  just  as  to  one  person . 

A  good  deal  of  space  has  been  given  to  this  discussion,  because  this 
conception  is  fundamental  to  all  our  work,  and  experience  justifies 
the  elaboration.  Perhaps  there  are  few  that  would  maintain  that 
public  speaking  is  something  far  removed  from  other  speaking;  but 
there  are  many  who  vaguely  feel  that  there  is  a  vast  difference.  As 
a  consequence,  they  begin  to  speak  in  a  strange  tone,  they  adopt  a 
manner  stiff  and  pompous,  they  talk  over  the  heads  of  their  audience. 


22  *  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

vociferating  loudly;  or  perhaps,  they  take  a  dull  monotonous  tone, 
lacking  the  lively  communicative  inflections  of  conversation.  They 
may  adopt  a  pompous  diction  in  an  abortive  attempt  to  imitate  Webster 
at  his  worst;  or,  what  is  the  strongest  evidence  of  their  perverted  con- 
ception, they  endeavor  to  speak  by  a  marvelous  system  of  rules,  which 
tell  them  when  their  voices  should  go  up,  when  down,  what  words  to 
emphasize,  when  to  use  gutteral  tones,  when  aspirate,  and  where  to 
pause. 

Certain  Common  Misconceptions  Removed.  Before 
proceding  to  our  positive  teaching  on  delivery  it  will  be 
best  to  guard  against  certain  misunderstandings  which 
often  arise.  First,  public-speaking,  to  be  conversational 
in  quality,  need  not  sound  like  conversation,  certainly 
not  like  ordinary  conversation.  Conventional  differences 
may  make  it  sound  very  different.  However,  conversa- 
tion has  many  different  sounds.  Much  depends  upon 
the  hearer,  the  situation,  the  subject  and  the  speaker. 

The  same  man  in  discussing  the  weather,  politics, 
hterature,  religion,  may  have  several  different  manners. 
He  may  be  listless  while  speaking  of  your  hobby,  but  while 
talking  of  his  own  impassioned.  The  diction  of  the 
commonest  man  tends  to  become  elevated  when  he  speaks 
of  elevated  subjects,  even  in  private  conversation.  We 
should  note,  also,  the  possiblity  of  getting  a  distorted 
conception  of  the  style  of  a  speaker  like  Webster  because 
most  of  us  read  only  isolated  passages,  and  the  lofty 
strain  of  an  impassioned  peroration  may  be  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  body  of  the  speech.  Each  part  is  fitted 
to  its  place.  Nearly  all  have  read  Webster's  apostrophe  to 
the  flag  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Reply  to  Hayne;  few 
have  read  the  four-hour  address.  Most  school  children 
have  met  with  Webster's  terrible  description  of  the 
tortures  of  the  murderer's  mind,  so  far  from  ordinary 
discourse;  but  very  few  indeed  have  read  the  whole  of 
that  masterly  address  to  the  jury  in  the  trial  of  the 
murderer  of  Captain  Joseph  White.     Read  all  and  you 


CONVERSING  WITH  AN  AUDIENCE  23 

will  understand  the  assertion  of  one  of  Webster's  contem- 
poraries that  Webster  talked  to  the  jury  as  if  he  were  a 
thirteenth  juror  who  had  just  stepped  out  in  front  in 
order  to  address  them  better.  Again  we  must  remem- 
ber that  the  conversational  style  of  Webster, — of  whom 
Carlyle  wrote,  "No  man  was  ever  so  great  as  Daniel 
Webster  looked,"  and  who  made  the  British  laborer 
exclaim,  "By  Jove,  there  goes  a  king," — that  the  conversa- 
tion of  such  a  man  would  not  sound  like  that  of  more 
comroionplace  people.  An  acquaintance  has  told  me  that 
he  was  amazed  by  Roscoe  Conkling's  ability  to  pour  out 
impromptu  a  lofty  diction  in  the  Senate  or  on  the  stump, 
until  he  knew  Conkhng  personally  and  found  that  he 
never  let  down  in  his  vocabulary.  The  grand  style  was 
his  natural  language. 

Secondly,  do  not  suppose  when  you  are  urged  to  be 
conversational  in  public  speech  that  you  are  expected 
to  be  less  careful,  or  dignified,  or  strong,  or  eloquent, 
than  you  would  be  otherwise.  There  is  nothing  in  this 
advice  to  restrain  us  from  the  exercise  of  our  highest 
powers.  Perhaps  there  is  no  better  way  to  make  the 
point  than  to  quote  what  has  been  said  of  Wendell 
Phillips,  the  great  anti-slavery  orator.  George  William 
Curtis  said  of  him,  "It  was  simple  colloquy — a  gentleman 
conversing."  Yet  that  there  was  no  lack  of  power  is 
e^ddenced  by  the  storms  he  stirred  up.  A  Richmond 
newspaper,  which  detested  his  doctrine  of  abolition,  said 
of  him,  "He  is  an  infernal  machine  set  to  music !"  Thomas 
Wentworth  Higginson  said  of  Phillips : 

"The  key-note  of  the  oratory  of  Wendell  Phillips  lay  in 
this:  that  it  was  essentially  conversational — the  conver- 
sational raised  to  its  highest  power.  Perhaps  no  orator 
ever  spoke  with  so  little  apparent  effort,  or  began  so  en- 
tirely on  the  plane  of  his  a\'erage  hearers.  It  was  as  if 
he  simply  repeated,  in  a  little  louder  tone,  what  he  had 
just  been  saying  to  some  familiar  friend  at  his  elbow.   .  .   . 


24  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Tlic  collociuialisni  was  never  relaxed,  but  it  was  familiarity 
without  loss  of  dignity.  Then  as  the  argument  went  on, 
the  \'oice  grew  deeper,  the  action  more  animated,  and  the 
sentences  came  in  a  long  sonorous  swell,  still  easy  and 
graceful,  but  }K)werful  as  the  soft  stretching  of  a  tiger's 
paw." 

To  take  an  example  from  present  daj'  speakers,  Maud  Ballington 
Booth  has  said  that  in  speaking  "she  never  was  conscious  of  dropping 
a  sense  of  conversation";  yet  she  is  a  speaker  of  rare  power.  One 
of  the  greatest  feats  I  have  ever  known  was  when  Mrs.  Booth  held 
for  two  hours  and  a  quarter  the  close  attention  of  an  audience  at  Cornell 
University,  an  audience  surfeited  with  lectures.  True,  her  story  of 
work  in  the  prisons  was  fascinating;  but  a  touch  of  the  forced,  unnatural 
manner  affected  b^-  some  speakers  would  have  sent  us  to  boredom  in 
half  the  time,  nor  could  she  have  held  us  had  there  not  been  in  her  delivery 
real  power. 

Please  understand  clearly  tlxat  to  have  conversational 
quality  in  your  public  speech  does  not  require  a  low 
tone,  or  a  careless  manner,  or  undignified  English.  So 
far  as  our  present  problem  is  concerned,  use  what  manner 
seems  good  to  you.  Give  your  thoughts  fitting  garb; 
to  plain  thoughts  plain  expression,  to  heightened  thoughts 
heightened  expression.  "What  I  am  now  urging  is,  that, 
whatever  else  you  do,  you  should  make  your  speech  genuine  * 
communication.  Do  not  look  upon  public  speaking  as  a 
performance,  but  as  a  genuine  dealing  wifli  men. 

Thirdly,  and  quite  in  line  with  the  preceding,  do  not 
understand  that  I  am  advocating  what  is  called  sometimes, 
"the  conversational  style."  I  advocate  no  style.  The 
word  suggests  too  strongly  that  all  should  speak  in  one 
manner,  while  we  should  stand  for  individuality.  I  urge 
only  that  our  public  speaking  shoidd  be  conversational 
in  its  elements  and  that  each  should  develop  and  improve 
his  own  best  conversation.  It  is  not  conversational  > 
style  but  conversational  quality  that  we  want  in  our 
platform  delivery.  Do  not  understand  that  this  is  some 
new  thing;   or  that  there  are  various  kinds  of  good  speak- 


CONVERSING  WITH  AN  AUDIENCE  25 

ing  and  that  speaking  which  has  conversational  quahty 
is  one  of  them.  As  we  are  using  the  term  there  is  no 
good  speaking  that  is  not  conversational;  and  there  never 
has  been  in  any  age  whether  grand  or  simple. 

It  is  true  that  Phillips  is  called  the  exemplar  of  the  "conversational 
style,"  and  that  it  is  frequently  said  that  since  his  time  American  public 
speaking  has  been  reformed  until,  as  Goldwin  Smith  says  in  his  Reminis- 
cences, you  will  go  far  to  hear  an  old-time  "spread-eagle"  speaker  such 
as  were  common  fifty  years  ago.  Not  only  is  the  pomposity  of  former 
days  going;  but  also  the  old  formality,  and  perhaps  too  much  of  the  real 
dignity  of  earlier  times,  have  disappeared  along  with  the  heavier  private 
manners  and  speech  of  our  fathers.  Properly  understood  as  referring 
to  the  speaking  of  to-day  as  compared  with  that  of  fifty  or  a  hundred 
years  ago,  the  term  conversational  style  is  unobjectionable.  But  that  is 
not  what  we  are  considering  here.     It  will  be  best  to  avoid  the  term. 

A  fourth  common  misconception  remains  to  be  dealt 
with:  Since  the  first  important  thing  for  the  beginner 
to  do  is  to  stand  up  and  talk  with  his  audience,  some 
are  quick  to  say,  "Just  be  natural."  The  advice  is 
plausible  buTTiardly  helpful.  •  What  does  this  phrase 
"Be  natural,"  constantly  used  to  signify  all  that  is  good, 
mean.^  The  savage  is  nearer  to  nature  than  the  civilized 
man;  yet  he  is  hardly  a  model.  The  child  is  more 
natural  than  the  adult.  As  Henry  Ward  Beecher  says, 
if  nature  is  the  ideal  we  should  remain  infants.  It  is 
natural  to  be  bad  as  well  as  to  be  good.  It  is  natural 
for  some  to  stammer;  for  others  to  strut;  for  others  to 
be  afraid  of  audiences.  Indeed,  is  it  not  natural  for  some 
to  be  affected.^  At  least  affectation  comes  without 
effort.  It  is  natural  for  many  on  the  platform  to  be 
unnatural.  The  advocates  of  "Be  natural,"  as  an  all 
sufficient  guide  are  quite  as  likely  as  any  to  strut  and 
bellow. 

It  is  manifest  that  we  are  juggling  with,  various  meanings 
of  the  word  natural.  It  may  mean  (1)  in  a  state  of 
nature,  untrained;    (2)  unaffected,  sincere,  not  artificial. 


26  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

or  exaggerated;  or  (3)  in  accordance  with  nature's  laws, 
normal.  The  word  as  generally  used  is  too  loose  for  our 
purpose.  If  it  is  good  to  be  natural  in  the  first  sense, 
then  all  education  must  be  wrong.  We  ^^'ish  to  develop 
nature  and  remove  defects  in  speaking,  as  in  all  else. 
Too  often  the  plea  of  naturalness  is  made  as  a  defense 
for  faults.  If  your  mannerisms  are  objectionable  to 
your  hearers  or  decrease  your  effectiveness,  they  should 
be  remedied  if  possible,  whether  "natural"  or  acquired. 
Most  that  we  call  natural  is  merely  habitual. 
i^:  .  Taking  the  second  meaning  of  natural,  we  shall  find 
that  the  plausible  advice,  "Be  natural,"  is  difficult  of 
application  by  the  beginner,  and  that  it  is  indeed  "natural 
to  be  unnatural."  ^lost  beginners  feel  embarrassment. 
Even  old  speakers  suffer  and  rarely  face  an  audience 
on  an  occasion  of  importance  without  a  strong  feeling  of 
tension.  At  best  the  simple  advice,  "Be  natural,"  is  of 
but  negative  value,  meaning  for  us,  Don't  consciously 
assume  strange  tones  and  manners.  It  mil  be  best  to 
avoid  the  phrase  altogether,  unless  we  define  it  each  time 
we  use  it  We  shall  be  more  helped  in  escaping  embarass- 
ment  and  in  attaining  genuine  naturalness,  when  we 
look  further  and  find  out  how  to  be  natural.  The  phrase 
may  seem  odd  to  you,  but  we  need  sometimes  to  learn 
how  to  be  natural.  We  need  now  to  learn  how  to  act 
in  accordance  wdth  nature  and  to  develop  habits  that  will 
hold  us  to  the  normal  under  the  stress  of  the  platform. 
Let  us  look  more  closely  into  the  nature  of  conversational 
speech,  in  order  to  learn  what  we  have  to  develop  and 
adapt  to  public  delivery. 

Conversational  Delivery  Analyzed.  Let  us  turn  to  a 
common  experience.  Why  is  it  that  a  small  boy  in  school 
reads  "See-the-horse-on-the-hill,"  mthout  a  trace  of 
meaning  in  his  tone,  and  yet  five  minutes  later  on  the 
playgrounds   shouts   the  same  words   to   his   playmates 


CONVERSING  WITH  AN   AUDIENCE  27 

with  perfect  expression?  And  why  is  it  that  if  the  teacher 
insists  that  Johnnie  read  over  his  sentence  and  get  its 
meaning  before  reading  it  aloud,  he  will  read  with  far 
better  expression?  And  why,  if  the  teacher  then  asks 
him  to  stand  facing  his  class  and  read  or  tell  the  story  to 
them,  does  he  read  with  really  good  expression?  The 
reason  for  his  first  improvement  is  apparent:  in  his  first 
reading  all  his  mind  is  given  to  recognizing  words  as  words. 
They  are  without  content  for  him;  they  bring  no  meaning, 
no  picture  to  his  mind.  His  expressionless  voice  is  a  true 
index  of  his  impressionless  mind;  or  rather,  to  be  strict, 
his  high  strained  tone  expresses  truly  the  anxious  strain 
of  his  attention  to  the  symbols  before  him.  When  he 
grasps  the  meaning,  expression  comes  into  his  voice. 
He  not  only  understands,  but  if  he  has  a  marked  success, 
he  has  more  than  bare  understanding:  the  objects  and 
incidents  of  which  he  reads  are  present  to  his  imagina- 
tion. The  horse  is  to  him  a  real  and  significant  object 
at  the  instant  he  speaks  the  words.  He  has  approached 
the  conditions  of  his  playground  conversation.  He  is 
"thinking  on  his  feet";  he  creates,  or  re-creates,  the 
thought  at  the  moment  of  delivery. 

But  our  small  boy  is  still  more  successful  in  his  reading 
when  he  is  made  to  feel  that  he  is  reading  or  telling  his 
story  to  his  classmates.  To  throw  the  statement  into 
a  phrase  we  shall  make  much  use  of,  Johnnie  succeeds  when 
he  reads  or  speaks  with  a  sense  of  communication.  On  the 
playground  he  has  the  most  perfect  expression  of  all, 
when  with  no  thought  of  how  he  says  things,  he  uses 
perfect  tone,  emphasis,  and  inflection.  Still  the  advice, 
"Forget  your  delivery,"  will  be  of  little  aid  to  the  embar- 
rassed beginner.  We  can  forget  only  by  turning  our  atten- 
tion to  something  else.  Forget  embarrassment  then  by 
holding  your  mind  to  your  subject-matter  and  your 
business  with  your  audience.     Hold  firmly  to  the  concep- 


28  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

tion  that  you  are  there  to  interest  them,  not  in  your  speak- 
ing, but  in  your  ideas;  to  convince  or  persuade  them. 
Look  for  their  response.  Stand  behind  your  speech  and 
embarrassment  will  disappear.  As  soon  as  you  can  carry 
out  these  injunctions,  whatever  your  faults,  you  will  be 
a  speaker. 

What  to  do.  To  summarize,  then,  your  delivery^  will 
have  the  desired  conversational  quality  when  you  retain 
upon  the  platform  these  elements  of  the  mental  state  of 
live  conversation: 

1.     Full  realization  of  the  content  of  your  words  as 
you  utter  them,  and 
^2.    A  lively  sense  of  communication. 

When  the  first  element  is  lacking  we  may  characterize 
the  delivery  as  absent-ininded;  when  the  second  is 
lacking  we  may  describe  the  delivery  as  soliloquizing y  not 
communicative,  or  indirect. 

\ .  These  Directions  Needed.  Put  so  simply  these  direc- 
tions may  strike  some  as  needless.  They  may  ask, 
"Do  not  all  sensible  speakers  think  as  they  speak,  and 
do  they  not  realize  that  they  speak  to  communicate?" 
Many  j^ears  of  observation  convince  me  that  these  natural 
questions  must  be  answered  in  the  negative.  The  faults 
of  absent-minded  speakijig  and  soliloquizing  speaking 
are  very  common.  Of  course,  there  is  usually  some 
consciousness  of  the  meaning,  but  not  always.  Mind  you, 
no  half  grasp  will  do.  y^or  is  it  enough  to  grasp  the  bare 
meaning;    the  emotional  content  also  must  be  realized, "N 

To  fail  of  contact,  to  be  indirect,  is  very  common  indeed.-^ 
Young  speakers  too  often  look  upon  public  speaking  as  an 
exhibition;  and  older  speakers  frequently  fall  into  a 
perfunctory  manner,  especially  those  who  speak  fre- 
quently and  in  a  routine  way.  Moreover,  many  of  those 
who  do  in  a  measure  fulfil  the  conversational  conditions, 
suffer  from  a  wrong  start.     The  man  who  begins   his 


CONVERSING  WITH  AN  AUDIENCE  29 

career  as  a  speaker  because  he  "has  something  to  say 
which  he  wishes  very  much  to  say,"  and  continues  for 
the  same  reason  until  his  habits  are  fixed,  and  who  has 
no  false  notions  of  speaking,  may  come  naturally  to  a 
genuine  delivery.  But  if  a  speaker  begins  with  the  notion 
that  he  speaks  to  make  an  exhibition  of  his  delivery,  or 
that  delivery  is  an  external,  mechanical  thing  to  be  man- 
ipulated according  to  rule,  or  in  imitation  of  a  model, 
he  will  probably  develop  a  conventional  tone  and  other 
bad  habits  that  will  resist  the  force  of  even  a  strongly 
felt  message  and  an  eager  audience.  Unfortunately, 
most  of  us  have  made  a  wrong  beginning  mth  our  reading 
and  speaking,  and  have  the  habit  of  perfunctory  delivery. 
We  began  to  read  with  all  our  attention  on  pronunciation, 
and  to  "speak  pieces"  we  did  not  understand,  in  order  to 
make  admiring  aunts  and  jealous  neighbors  say:  "How 
splendid!  I  heard  every  word!"  when  our  delivery  was 
really  an  abomination, — neither  song  nor  speech. 

The  Conversational  Elements  in  Reading.  Perhaps 
it  is  more  common  to  read  than  to  speak  absent-mindedly 
and  indirectly.  The  minister,  for  example,  reading  hymn 
or  scripture  lesson,  with  his  mind  on  his  sermon,  or  on  who 
has  come  to  church,  may  proceed  with  but  the  vaguest 
consciousness  of  the  meaning  of  what  he  reads  and  with 
no  feeling  that  he  is  reading  to  answering  minds.  He  may 
pronounce  the  words  in  a  sonorous  ministerial  tone. 
And  his  congregation?  How  rarely  do  they  really  listen! 
If  indifferent,  they  think  of  business  or  fashions;  if 
devout,  they  piously  feel  it  is  all  good  and  true  and  are 
affected  by  the  sound  regardless  of  sense,  like  the  old  lady 
who  always  wept  w^hen  she  heard  "that  blessed  word, 
Mesopotamia!''  In  many  churches  there  is  a  feeling 
that  nothing  really  counts  but  the  sermon,  and  there  is 
a  notable  shifting  and  coming  to  attention  when  sermon 
time  comes.     In  those  churches  where  the  reading  is  of 


30  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

chief  importance,  the  members  of  the  congregation  get 
the  meaning,  so  far  as  they  do,  by  following  the  service 
in  their  individual  books.  And  all  this  is  but  the  natural 
result  of  the  perfunctory  reading  that  prevails.  When  a 
preacher  takes  the  pains  to  study  out  the  significance 
of  what  he  reads,  throws  off  the  ministerial  tune,  and  reads 
as  one  who  has  thought  to  convey,  the  congregation  looks 
up  with  surprised  interest  and  thinks,  "Why,  really,  what 
a  remarkable  chapter  that  is!" 

What  I  have  elaborated  in  regard  to  the  reading  of 
preachers  is  true  generally  of  the  reading  of  other  speakers. 
Whenever  a  speaker  in  court  or  on  the  platform  begins 
to  read  a  quotation,  the  audience  is  likely  to  suspend 
listening  until  the  speaker  explains  the  meaning  of  what 
he  has  read. 

The  Conversational  Elements  in  Speaking  from  Manu- 
script. The  speaker  with  manuscript  in  hand  is  peculiarly 
tempted  to  repeat  empty  words,  because  it  is  so  easy  for 
him  to  do  so.  Nothing  is  easier  than  to  recognize  and 
|3ronounce  words  without  any  recognition  of  their  con- 
tents. Yet  speaking  from  manuscript  need  not  be 
empty  and  monotonous.  It  may  be  lively  and  communi- 
cative, if  the  speaker  exerts  himself  to  think  and  keep 
in  touch  with  his  hearers.. 

When  Speaking  from  Memory.  The  reading  speaker 
is  not  popular,  but  l)y  no  means  all  readers  carry  manu- 
script to  the  platform.  The  speaker  who  memorizes 
should  succeed  better  than  the  speaker  with  manuscript; 
for  he  can  better  keep  in  touch  with  his  audience.  As 
compared  with  the  extemporaneous  speaker,  he  is  freed 
from  the  harassing  necessity  of  choosing  ideas  and  words 
from  the  many  offering  themselves,  and  from  the  neces- 
sity of  determining  order.  He  can,  therefore,  give  all 
his  mind  to  presenting  his  thought  to  his  audience. 
Probably,  much  as  we  admire  the  ability  to  speak  ex- 


CONVERSING  WITH  AN  AUDIENCE  31 

tempore  and  necessary^  as  it  is  to  the  well-equipped 
speaker,  most  of  the  great  speeches  have  been  delivered 
memoriter.  But  too  often  one  who  delivers  a  memorized 
speech  really  only  reads,  and  reads  badly,  giving  all  his 
mind  to  recalling  the  words.  Sometimes  he  is  reading 
from  a  manuscript  before  his  "mind's  eye";  or  his  "con- 
sciousness is  empty  of  all  but  the  sound  and  feel  of  the 
words. "^  This  tendency  to  keep  mere  words  upper- 
most, we  must  earnestly  fight  against.  The  method 
by  which  one  memorizes  is  important  and  will  be  treated 
later;  but  the  gist  of  the  matter  is:  hold  yourself  to  the 
thought  first,  last  and  all  the  time,  and  avoid  the  parrot- 
like repetition    of    words. 

Some  hold  that  a  speech  committed  to  memory  cannot 
be  delivered  with  spontaneity;  but  observation  proves 
that  this  is  not  true.  It  has  been  said  concerning  the 
^actice  of  George  William  Curtis,  one  of  the  best  speakers 
of  the  last  generation :  "He  practiced  that  perfect  memori- 
zation which  has  the  virtues  of  extemporization  without 
its  faults."     Higginson  tells  this  story  of  Wendell  Phillips : 

"I  remember  that  after  his  Phi  Beta  Kappa  oration,  in 
which  he  had  so  carried  away  a  conservative  and  critical 
audience  that  they  found  themselves  applauding  tyranni- 
cide before  they  knew  it,  I  said  to  him,  'This  could  not 
have  been  written  out  beforehand,'  and  he  said,  Tt  is 
already  in  type  at  the  Advertiser  office.'  I  could  not 
have  believed  it." 

It  is  all  a  matter  of  re-creating  the  thought,  and  it  is  a 
poor  thought  that  cannot  be  thought  more  than  once. 
A  man  in  earnest,  let  us  say  a  senior  canvassing  for  a 
class  memorial  fund,  or  a  candidate  for  oflBce,  will  con- 


/: 


^  "The  difference  between  speaking  sense  and  nonsense  is  this :  in 
the  latter  case,  consciousness  is  empty  of  all  but  the  sound  and  feel 
of  the  words;  in  the  former,  the  words  are  the  expression  of  a  con- 
scious situation,  the  discharge  of  an  aggregate  idea."  Private  letter  from 
Professor  E.  B.  Titchener,  quoted  by  permission. 


32  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

verse  spontaneously  enough  though  he  has  prepared  even 
his  words  and  has  repeated  them  in  a  dozen  different 
conversations.  The  chronic  story  teller  often  finds  his 
adventures  growing  in  thrills  as  the  years  go  by,  if  only 
he  can  find  new  listeners. 

WTiitefield,  one  of  the  greatest  of  preachers,  declared  that  he  was 
at  his  best  the  fortieth  time  he  delivered  a  sermon.  The  lecturers 
of  the  Lyceum  and  Chautauqua  platforms  may  repeat  their  addresses 
hundreds  of  times,  and  yet  deliver  them  with  freshness.  Again,  when 
weary  or  indifferent,  the  best  of  them,  for  example,  Mr.  Brj-an,  may 
give  you  as  little  sense  of  personal  contact  as  a  phonographL  The  book 
agent  who  keeps  his  mind  alert  and  is  keen  about  his  business  will  not 
remind  you,  as  some  poorer  solicitors  do,  that  his  talk  was  h^ded  him 
by  his  company.  -----__ 

When  Speaking  Extemporaneously.  So  indirect  and 
monotonous  is  much  of  the  speaking  by  the  memorizing 
method,  that  it  is  widely  condemned.  The  extempor- 
aneous method  is  most  popular  of  all.  It  has  faults  and 
virtues  which  may  be  discussed  later;  but  here  it  is  in 
order  to  point  out  that  not  even  this  method  is  free  from^ 
the  faults  under  consideration.  We  must  all  know  by 
observation  that  it  is  quite  as  possible  to  m.ake  a  speech 
without  clear  thinking,  as  it  is  to  converse  without  "know- 
ing what  we  are  talking  about."  The  extemporizer's 
mind  is  more  likely  to  be  active;  but  under  the  stress 
of  choosing  and  rejecting,  he  may  fall  into  confusion. 
Any  experienced  speaker  knows  how  possible  it  is  to  talk 
on  without  knowing  at  the  end  of  a  period  what  he  has 
been  saying.  Extraneous  thoughts  come, — an  engage- 
ment forgotten,  the  train  to  be  caught,  disturbances 
in  the  audience, — ^yet  the  speaker  talks  on,  probably 
forming  grammatical  sentences,  but  rambling  and  "mark- 
ing time."  Again,  the  effort  of  thinking  out  a  point  not 
thoroughly  mastered  before,  or  consideration  of  a  point 
now  first  presenting  itself,  may  throw  him  into  a  reflective 
frame  of  mind;   his  thought  loses  the  objective  character 


CONVERSING  WITH  AN  AUDIENCE  33 

needed.     As  a  result  he  breaks  contact  with  his  audience 
and  soHloquizes. 

The  extemporaneous  speaker,  therefore,  needs  quite 
as  much  as  others,  a  firmly  fixed  habit  of  always  holding 
his  mind  firmly  to  the  matter  in  hand  and  of  s])eaking 
directly  to  his  audience.  To  fix  this  habit  requires  for 
most  persons  time  and  practice.  The  beginner  has  to 
develop  his  powers,  as  does  the  athlete, — powers  which 
serve  well  enough  for  ordinary  purposes,  but  not  for 
extra  strain.  Until  this  habit  is  fixed  and  he  has  found 
himself  as  a  speaker,  the  student  should  avoid  all  methods 
that  tend  to  draw  him  away  from  the  fundamentals. 
jjWith  Special  Reference  to  Directness.  More  speakers 
fail  in  the  second  conversational  element  than  in  the  first. 
It  is  highly  important  that  we  understand  the  distinction 
between  communicative  and  non-communicative,  or 
direct  and  indirect,  speaking, — a  distinction  more  easy 
to  feel  than  to  put  into  words.  We  hear  a  speaker, 
perhaps  we  follow  his  thought,  yet  we  do  not  feel  he  has 
business  with  us.  If  he  asks  questions,  we  do  not  feel 
provoked  to  reply  even  mentally.  We  are  not  partici- 
pators, but  idle  spectators.  There  is  no  challenge  to  our 
attention.  With  another  speaker  we  feel  contact.  It 
has  been  said ^  of  Count  Okuma,  the  Japanese  statesman: 
"It  is  easy  to  understand  the  delight  with  which  he  is 
always  heard  upon  the  platform.  He  is  master  of  the 
art  of  being  intimate  with  his  audience- — which  is  the, 
secret.  .  .  of   the   highest   quality   of   public   speaking." 

We  may  follow  a  speaker  who  lacks  directness  of  de- 
livery, from  sheer  interest  in  the  subject-matter,  or  from 
a  sense  of  duty;  but  our  attention  is  not  due  to  delivery. 
Such  attention  is  wearying  and  can  hardly  be  expected 
from  the  average  audience.  The  thought  may  be  worthy, 
the  language  fitting,  the  delivery  may  be  otherwise  good, — 

^Hamilton  Wright  Mabie  in  The  Outlook,  June  14,  1913,  p.  331. 


34  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

voice  clear  and  pleasing  and  the  modulation  true;  and  yet 
lacking  the  communicative  element,  the  speaking  does 
not  reach  or  grip.  It  may  be  the  speaker  is  thinking 
intently,  but  as  he  lacks  touch  with  his  audience,  his 

•/»  speech  is  only  soliloquy.  We  say  of  another  speaker, 
"He  talks  over  our  heads";  and  this  points  to  more  than 
the  character  of  thought  or  vocabulary.  The  speaker 
may  literally  talk  and  look  over  our  heads;  or,  though  his 
•eyes  are  turned  toward  us,  he  is  practically  unconscious 
of  our  presence.  Some  advance  from  soliloquy  to  miono- 
logue  and  talk  at  us,  or  thunder  at  us. 

But  true  speech  is  a  dialogue;  better  even  than  talking 
to  us  is  talking  ivith  us.  It  is  conversation  with  an  audi- 
ence. The  audience  is  conceived  of  by  the  speaker 
as  responding,  asking  questions,  approving  and  disap- 
proving. He  dwells  on  an  idea  till  he  is  sure  of  the  re- 
sponse. He  never  follows  his  own  train  of  thought  to 
the  ignoring  of  the  thoughts  of  his  hearers.  This  concep- 
tion brings  into  the  speaker's  voice  the  tone  we  call  direct 

"^  or  communicative. 

We  should  make  sure,  in  our  efforts  to  be  direct,  that 
this  tone  springs  from  mental  attitude,  from  a  felt  contact 
with  our  hearers;  for  it,  no  more  than  other  tones,  should 
be  assumed  as  a  trick  of  delivery.  The  attempt  to  put 
on  directness  is  likely  to  result  in  an  over-familiar,  confi- 
dential, or  wheedling  tone  which  is  most  objectionable. 
Ex-President  Roosevelt  is  a  speaker  of  notable  directness.  Those 
accustomed  to  the  more  ornate  style  of  speaking  common  forty  years 
ago,  used  to  say,  "Roosevelt  is  no  orator";  but  they  have  had  to  admit 
that  he  is  an  effective  speaker  and  campaigner.  The  challenge  to 
respond  is  constant  as  he  speaks;  and  sometimes  he  will  say,  "What  do 
you  think  of  that.''"  or  "Isn't  that  good?"  And  on  one  occasion  he  re- 
peated a  sentiment  and  commanded,  "Now  applaud  that!"  His  audience 
must  take  part. 

It  takes  courage  and  self-control  to  speak  straight  to  an 
audience.     This  is  not  because  of  embarrassment  merely, 


CONVERSING  WITH  AN  AUDIENCE  35 

but  because  of  the  necessity  of  commanding  and  direct- 
ing the  thoughts  of  many.  There  are  times  when  the 
speaker  feels  that  it  is  his  will  against  the  combined  wills 
of  his  hearers.  The  point  was  well  put  by  a  former 
student  who,  from  being  a  rather  weak  speaker  in  college, 
developed  a  direct  and  effective  style  while  preaching  to 
western  cowboys:  'T  tell  you,  when  your  congregation 
may  jump  out  of  a  window  or  dance  in  the  aisle  if  you  lose 
control,  you  have  to  grip  them!"  If  the  speaker  weakens 
and  retires  within  himself,  he  quickly  loses  control  and 
a  restless  inattention  ensues  almost  as  distressing  as  these 
"wild  and  woolly"  extremes.  Said  President  Stryker  of 
Hamilton  College,  at  his  best  an  orator  of  great  power, 
"It  is  four-fifths  will  power." 
i  We  should  emphasize  in  connection  wdth  directness, 
the  effect  of  the  eye,  which  is  quite  as  important  as  the 
voice  in  maintaining  contact.  The  speaker  should  look 
at  his  hearers  squarely.  No  dodging  will  do;  no  looking 
just  over  their  heads,  or  down  the  aisle,  or  at  a  friendly 
post.  The  speaker  who  meets  the  eyes  of  his  hearers  will 
rarely  see  their  eyes  turn  away  from  him  and  he  will  rarely 
lose  contact.  But  the  temptation  is  often  strong  upon 
the  young  speaker  to  turn  away;  not  merely  because  of 
nervousness,  but  also  because  the  necessity  of  thinking 
tempts  him  to  drop  his  eyes  to  the  floor,  or  raise  them  to 
the  ceiling.  BuL  the  time  for  meditation  has  passed; 
his  facts,  arguments  and  conclusions  should  be  clearly 
arranged  in  his  mind.  His  thinking  now  should  be  of 
that  objective  sort  that  is  best  stimulated  by  contact  with 
his  audience.  Of  course  a  speaker  who  has  no  opportunity 
to  prepare,  may  be  pardoned  if  he  fails  to  ob  erve  this 
rule,  and  those  who  speak  from  notes  cannot;  but  the  loss 
of  force  is  easily  noted. 

While  a  speaker  should  avoid  a  constantly  shifting  gaze, 
he  should  neglect  no  part  of  his  audience.     The  part 


36  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

directly  in  front  should  receive  most  attention.  Many 
speakers  develop  a  bad  habit  of  addressing  one  side  of  an 
audience  nearly  all  the  time,  with  but  glances  at  the  other. 
The  neglected  side  soon  grows  restless.  Do  not  let  an 
habitual  posture  cause  you  to  neglect  any  part  of  your 
audience.  Make  all  feel  that  you  are  talking  with  them. 
*'I  wonder,"  said  a  freshman,  "why  Prexy  preaches  all 
his  sermons  at  me."  "Why,"  replied  his  friend  who  sat 
on  the  other  side  of  the  chapel,  "I  thought  Prex.  aimed 
them  all  at  me!"  It  must  not  be  inferred  from  the  above 
that  a  speaker  should  stride  forward  with  a  fierce  gaze 
and  an  *'I-am-going-to-make-you-listen"  air.  It  must  be 
strength  with  ease,  and  self-confidence  With  respect  for 
others, — "a   gentleman   convei^ing." 

We  may  well  note  at  this  point  that  this  quality  of  comraimicativeness 
is  not  merely  a  matter  of  delivery.  Much  depends  upon  composition, 
upon  how  the  ideas  are  put  into  words,  and  very  much  upon  the  charac- 
ter of  the  ideas  themselves.  This  last  will  grow  clearer  before  we  reach 
the  final  chapter. 

Conversational  Delivery  not  Necessarily  Good.  There 
is  a  strong  tendency  to  assume  at  this  point  that  when  a 
speaker  has  succeeded  in  reproducing  conversational 
mental  conditions  upon  the  platform,  then  his  delivery 
will  be  perfect,  or  "good  enough;"  and  likewise  a  ten- 
dency, when  asked  to  explain  conversational  public 
speaking,  to  ascribe  to  it  all  the  virtues  a  speaker  may 
possess.  But  it  is  obvious  that  if  one's  conversation 
has  defects,  his  enlarged  conversation  may  have  these 
defects  enlarged.  Faulty  pronunciation,  indistinct  enun- 
ciation, nasal  or  provincial  twang,  throaty  tones,  lack  of 
range  or  of  agility  of  voice,  are  but  examples  of  faults 
that  may  be  transferred  to  the  platform.  A  rational  study 
of  technique  may  be  beneficial  after  the  first  success  is 
won.  A  rational  study  of  technique  requires  that  the 
student  shall  never  look  upon  technical  matters  as  of  first 


CONVERSING  WITH  AN  AUDIENCE  37 

importance,  though  they  are  often  very  important  indeed. 
It  is  due  in  part  to  over-emphasis  of  technique  that  the 
elocutionist  often  falls  under  the  conderonation  of  sensible 
folk.  One  reason  for  insisting  tha^:  the  class  of  faults 
mentioned  in  this  paragraph  should  be  attended  to  after 
rather  than  before  conversational  conditions  are  secured, 
is  that  we  are  prone  to  feel  that  the  part  of  a  subject 
which  we  take  up  first  is  the  most  fundamental.  It  would 
seem  that  many  never  get  beyond  the  conception  that 
public  speaking  is  entirely  a  matter  of  voice  and  gesture 
manipulation. 

We  were  speaking  in  the  last  paragraph  of  faults  of 
delivery.  There  are  of  course  many  other  reasons  why  a 
speaker  whose  delivery  is  thoroughly  conversational, 
may  yet  be  a  poor  speaker.  He  may  have  a  weak  vocabu- 
lary, or  careless  habits  of  thought  and  composition;  he 
may  lack  information  and  ideas,  or  understanding  of 
audiences;  he  may  be  deficient  in  imagination,  earnest- 
ness and  strength;  he  may  have  an  unpleasant  personality. 

It  should  be  pointed  out,  however,  that  many  of  these 
faults  tend  to  disappear  when  public  speaking  is  thought 
of  as  a  larger  conversation.  For  example,  one  earnestly 
reaching  out  for  the  understanding  of  one's  audience, 
will  make  more  effort  to  be  distinct  than  in  ordinary  con- 
versation; and  often  effort  is  all  that  is  needed.  Nervous- 
ness may  cause  a  speaker  to  use  his  voice  badly;  but  it  is 
clear  that  he  is  less  liable  to  this  fault  when  he  looks  upon 
public  speech  as  a  larger  conversation,  calling  for  a 
normal  use  of  his  voice,  than  if  he  assumes  strange  cones. 
If  our  young  speaker  talks  too  rapidly, — and  no  fault  is 
more  common  with  beginners, — a  direct  attempt  on  his 
part  to  slow  down  often  results  in  increase  rather  than 
decrease  of  rate.  But  if  a  speaker  holds  himself  to  a  full 
realization  of  the  content  of  his  words,  he  will  pause 
much  of  necessity;   and  if  he  is  earnestly  striving  to  talk 


i 


88  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

with  his  audience,  he  will  soon  realize  that  an  audience 
cannot  be  carried  so  rapidly  as  one  listener.  Deliberation 
will  be  the  natural  result.  Again,  if  a  speaker  comes  into 
intimate  contact  ■with,  his  hearers,  he  is  more  likely  to 
observe  what  manner  of  persons  they  are  and  adapt  his 
message  to  their  understanding,  beliefs  and  feelings . 

How  the  Student  Should  Begin.  We  shall  proceed  to 
more  definite  suggestions  in  the  next  chapter;  but  we  have 
a' ready  enough  for  a  practical  beginning.  The  first 
thing  the  beginner  has  to  do  is  to  gain  the  power  to  stand 
up  and  talk  with  an  audience.  Many  will  not  find  this 
easy,  some  because  of  embarrassment  and  some  because 
of  bad  habits  already  established.  In  any  case  the  effort 
should  be  to  accentuate  the  mental  conditions  of  conver- 
sation. In  the  measure  in  which  the  student  succeeds 
in  doing  this  he  will  succeed  in  expressing  his  ideas  with 
true  emphasis,  inflection,  etc.  (The  doctrine  of  this 
chapter  goes  much  further  than  delivery  in  this  narrow 
sense,  but  we  shall  limit  ourselves  to  this  here.)  If  at 
first  he  does  not  succeed,  he  must  keep  on  trying.  The 
remedy  for  failure  to  express  is  more  thinking,  a  firmer, 
more  complete  grasp  of  the  ideas  and  more  effort  to  talk 
with  his  hearers.  He  must  not  let  mere  words  fill  his 
mind.  Words  he  must  have,  but  they  must  remain 
subordinate  to  the  thought.  He  must  establish  the 
habit  of  speaking  no  phrase  until  its  meaning  is  distinct 
in  his  mind.  To  carry  out  these  suggestions,  he  should 
at  once  prepare  simple  speeches  and  deliver  them  to 
whatever  audiences  are  available. 

L^'Much  Practice  Needed.  Mental  habits  need  forming 
and  reforming.  Long  practice  may  be  needed,  too,  be- 
fore the  expression,  though  correct,  will  be  adequate. 
We  often  wish  to  express  a  wider  range  of  thoughts  and 
feelings  on  the  platform  than  in  conversation.  This  fact 
makes  necessary  the  development  of  the  power  of  expres- 


CONVERSING  WITH  AN  AUDIENCE  .    39 

sion.  To  this  end  we  need  not  practice  on  a  *'set"  of 
tones,  such  as  *'low  aspirate  oratund"  and  "high,  pure, 
aspirate,  fast";  but  we  may  wisely  practice  expressing 
a  large  variety  of  ideas  and  sentiments,  using  both  our 
own  productions  and  those  of  others  which  we  have  as- 
similated. In  such  practice  we  should  always  seek  the 
right  expression  by  means  of  a  firm  grasp  of  content  and 
the  effort  to  communicate  directly  to  auditors,  real  or 
imaginary.  (An  imagined  audience  is  very  patient  and 
helpful  for  practice  purposes.)  As  a  result,  we  shall  find 
the  response  of  voice  to  mind  growing  more  prompt, 
certain  and  satisfying.  And  since,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  effort  to  express  develops  that  which  we  seek  to  ex- 
press, we  shall  find  in  such  practice  that  harmonious 
development  of  thought,  feeling  and  voice  which  is  the 
truest  vocal  training. 

The  Place  of  Voice  Training.  To  this  may  be  added 
the  physical  training  of  breathing  and  other  exercises 
for  strengthening,  purifying  and  freeing  the  voice.  Any 
exercises  for  bettering  the  response  of  voice  and  muscle 
to  the  action  of  the  mind  may  be  welcomed;  provided 
always  that  we  never  confuse  ourselves  with  the  notion 
that  somehow  these  means  are  public  speaking,  that  we 
do  not  think  of  such  means  at  all  when  speaking,  and  never 
try  to  substitute  them  for  thinking.  Exercises  should  be 
employed  strictly  as  exercises;  and  it  is  best  that  they 
should  be  kept  back  until  the  beginner  has  gained  the 
power  to  maintain  conversational  conditions  upon  the 
platform,  through  actual  practice  in  addressing  the  class  or 
some  other  audience. 

For  further  discussion  of  voice  training  S33  Chapter  VIII  . 

Do  not  be  Mechanical.  If  you  have  understood  the 
foregoing,  you  will  see  that  there  is  no  place  in  our  scheme 
for  the  mechanical  stressing  of  words,  pausing  and  the  like. 


40  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

If  you  have  made  a  }jracti(.'e  of  conseiously  fixing  emphasis, 
pause  and  inflection,  abandon  the  practice.  It  is  un- 
necessary and  it  will  hinder  you  in  acquiring  the  right 
mental  attitude.  If  there  is  any  time  for  that  prac- 
tice at  all,  it  is  not  at  this  stage.  It  is  unnecessary  for 
reasons  already  stated.  The  voice  reflects  the  mind  with 
remarkable  fidelity.  ''Expression,"  says  Cicero,  "is  always 
l)erfcct . "  A  clear  thouglit  is  clear  in  expression,  and  a  hazy 
thought  is  hazy  in  expression.  Our  voices  respond  promptly 
and  instinctively  to  our  changing  thoughts,  feelings  and 
moods,  and  to  the  varying  situations  in  which  we  find  our- 
selves. As  a  rule  we  take  no  thought  of  emphasis,  pause, 
inflection  and  tone;  yet  the  expression  comes  true. 
When  we  do  take  thought  of  it,  it  is  most  often  not  to 
express  ourselves  better,  but  to  conceal  indifference, 
eagerness,  dislike,  fear,  or  other  mood.  Wrong  emphasis 
is  due  to  failure  at  the  moment  to  discriminate  values; 
wrong  pausing  is  due  to  failure  to  distinguish  the  units  of 
thought;  the  WTong  tone  is  prompted  by  the  wrong  feel- 
ing. The  remedy  is  complete  thinking  and  sincere  feel- 
ing. The  voice  ordinarily  responds  without  conscious 
direction  because  this  is  one  of  the  earliest  reactions  fixed 
in  the  nervous  system.  Why  should  not  this  response 
be  as  true  in  public  as  in  private  speech,  provided  we  can 
maintain  upon  the  platform  conversational  mental 
conditions? 

Mechanical  methods  of  expression  have  been  reduced  to 
rules,  which  I  refer  to  only  because  many  readers  of  these 
pages  may  have  had  experience  with  them.  These  sys- 
tems are  based  upon  the  general  practice  of  speakers. 
For  example,  a  rule  states  that  a  conditional  clause  should 
end  with  a  rising  inflection.  In  speaking  the  sentence, 
*Tf  I  go  down  town,  I  will  do  your  errand,"  the  voice 
should  rise  at  town.  We  may  admit  that  this  is  usually 
true,  yet  insist  that  the  rule  is  both  unnecessary  and  a  posi- 


CONVERSING  WITH  AN  AUDIENCE  41 

tive  evil.     Both  points  are  vigorously  put  by  Nathan 
Shepard:^ 

"Another  of  the  rules  of  the  elocutionist  is:  'Pause  be- 
fore and  after  the  emphatic  word,  and  put  a  circumflex 
upon  it.' 

"Where  did  you  get  this  rule?  From  conversation. 
Finding  that  we  do  this  naturally,  let  us  do  it  mechanically. 
We  do  it  by  instinct  in  private  talking,  let  us  do  it  by  rule 
in  public  speaking.  Finding  that  while  eating,  every 
time  your  elbow  bends  your  mouth  flies  open,  therefore 
this  rule :  When  your  elbow  bends,  open  your  mouth.  .  .  . 
If  you  deprive  the  speaker  of  his  pauses  and  emphasis 
and  inflections,  what  is  left  for  his  brains?" 

The  last  sentence  above  touches  the  greatest  evil  in  all 
mechanical  methods:  They  check  thinking.  If  we  fix 
the  precise  manner  in  which  a  sentence  shall  be  delivered 
and  then,  as  is  usually  done,  drill  this  delivery  till  there  is 
no  danger  that  the  vocal  organs  will  perform  otherwise 
than  in  the  manner  prescribed,  what  indeed  is  there  left 
for  the  speaker's  brains?  This  easy  substitute  for  think- 
ing is  usually  relied  upon;  and  this  is  the  more  true  be- 
cause the  student  of  mechanical  training  rarely  conceives 
of  speaking  as  other  than  a  matter  of  making  his  voice 
and  hands  go  right.  He  manipulates  his  voice  as  an 
organist  manipulates  his  instrument,  and  when  he  changes 
his  tones  for  this  or  that  emotion,  you  almost  see  him 
pushing  and  pulling  the  stops.  But  instrumental  music 
is  an  artifical  matter,  while  the  response  of  voice  and 
gesture  to  thought  and  feeling  is  a  matter  of  the  deepest 
instincts  of  our  nature,  and  mechanical  methods,  which 
are  a  necessity  to  the  musician,  are  a  positive  hindrance 
to  the  speaker.  Besides,  the  rules  are  only  half  true; 
they  conventionalize  speech;  and  they  are  cumbersome 
and  needless.  The  agents  of  expression  will  respond  to 
right  mental  action;   let  us  therefore  attend  to  the  think- 

^  Before  an  Audience,  p.  69. 


42  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

ing.  If  at  first  the  unfamiliar  conditions  of  the  platform 
may  interfere,  the  remedy  is  not  an  arbitrary  substitute 
for  thought,  but  raore  thinking. 

One  particularly  bad  form  of  the  mechanical  method 
is  that  which  marks  on  the  speaker's  manuscript  the 
pauses,  inflections,  tones,  gestures  and  emphatic  words. 
Following  out  such  a  scheme  takes  the  mind  off  the  mean- 
ing of  the  words,  puts  attention  upon  a  mechanism, 
interferes  with  the  sense  of  communication,  and  in  general 
has  all  the  faults  of  mechanical  method  in  the  most 
definite  form. 

Do  not  Imitate.  Mechanical  methods  do  call  for  some 
study  on.  the  part  of  the  student;  but  the  method  of 
learning  delivery  by  imitation  of  another  lacks  even  this 
redeeming  feature.  It  relieves  from  all  necessity  for 
thinking,  and  trains  to  absent-minded  delivery.  More- 
over, when  a  student  has  delivered  one  speech  by  imita- 
tion, he  is  helpless  when  he  attempts  another.  But 
worst  of  all  is  the  suppression  of  his  own  individuality. 

Fight  against  it  as  we  may,  there  is  nothing  better  for 
any  one  of  us  than  his  own  individuality,  developed  and 
improved.  David  cannot  fight  in  Saul's  armor,  nor  is  the 
ass  a  success  in  the  lion's  skin.  It  is  the  fate  of  .the  imita- 
tor to  copy  the  mannerism  and  miss  the  spirit.  The 
result  is  caricature.  What  Schopenhauer  says  of  style 
in  writing  can  be  applied  to  delivery:  "Style  is  the  phy- 
siognomy of  the  mind,  and  a  safer  index  to  character  than 
the  face.  To  imitate  another  man's  style  is  like  wearing 
a  mask,  which,  be  it  never  so  fine,  is  not  long  in  arousing 
disgust  and  abhorrence,  because  it  is  lifeless ;  so  that  even 
the  ugliest  face  is  better."  In  the  words  of  Wackernagel, 
"Style  is  no  lifeless  mask  laid  upon  the  substance  of 
thought;  it  is  the  living  play  of  countenance,  produced 
by  the  expressive  soul  within."  These  brilliant  state- 
ments of  Buffon's  thought,  "Style  is  the  man  himself," 


CONVERSING  WITH  AN  AUDIENCE  48 

are  more  true  of  delivery  than  of  composition;  because 
delivery  is  a  more  instinctive  and  intimate  expression  of 
personality  than  printed  words. 

In  condemning  conscious  imitation  as  a  method  of  learning  to  speak 
in  public,  I  do  not  overlook  the  fact  that  we  learn  to  talk  in  the  first 
place  largely  by  unconscious  imitation  and  that  imitation  is  a  large 
factor  in  education.  It  may  be  admitted  that  in  treating  some  special 
minor  faults,  imitation  may  be  valuable  as  a  last  resort.  It  is  the  easiest 
of  all  methods  for  the  teacher,  and  may  be  justified  sometimes  when 
quick  formal  results  are  necessary.  There  are  some  who  are  slow  in 
responding  to  other  methods.  But  all  this  does  not  alter  the  fact  that 
imitation  is  the  poorest  of  methods  and  disappointing  in  the  long  run; 
for  it  does  not  ordinarily  set  the  student  on  a  course  of  normal  develop- 
ment. And  for  those  mentally  able  to  "run  alone,"  it  is  well-nigh  dis- 
graceful. No  man  with  proper  self-respect  will  be  content  to  follow, 
as  his  principal  method,  imitation,  even  of  the  best;  and,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  the  imitator  must  usually  imitate  the  mediocre. 

I  recognize  the  fact  that  students  have  learned  to  speak  well  by  all 
sorts  of  methods  and  by  no  method.  But  as  there  are  ways  and  ways, 
I  have  tried  to  show  you  the  way  which  after  seventeen  years  of  experi- 
ence as  a  teacher,  I  believe  promises  the  least  waste  of  effort  and  the 
surest  arrival.  Nevertheless,  the  way  is  not  an  easy  one;  Think  is  its — 
"open-sesame";  and  while  we  teachers  can  lead  you  to  the  platform 
we  cannot  make  you  think. 

Looking  Forward.  We  carry  forward  from  this  chapter 
an  miderstanding  of  the  general  problem  of  delivery; 
but  we  have  as  yet  comparatively  little  to  aid  us  in  carry- 
ing out  the  suggestion,  "Think  as  you  speak."  It  is 
quite  possible  for  us  to  think  that  we  think  very  hard 
and  yet  succeed  only  in  deeply  furrowing  our  brows. 
We  must  make  not  only  an  effort,  but  an  intelligent  effort. 
To  this  end  we  shall  study  in  the  following  chapters  how 
our  minds  work  and  the  nature  of  audiences.  We  shall 
consider  most  of  the  speaker's  problems,  of  which  delivery 
is  but  one;  and  we  shall  find  that  thinking  on  our  feet  is  a 
relatively  easy  matter  when  thinking  in  preparation  has 
been  of  the  right  sort,  and  that  we  are  greatly  helped  in 
talking  with  our  hearers  when  we  understand  the  needs  and 


44  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

nature  of  audiences  and  come  before  them  with  definite 
purposes  and  speeches  adapted  to  their  interests. 

Note  to  Teachers. — In  the  next  chapter  we  shall  consider  "thinking 
on  one's  feet"  in  a  rather  detailed  way,  venturing  as  far  into  the  technique 
of  delivery  as  I  deem  it  wise  to  go  with  a  class  in  practical  public  speaking, 
at  least  on  paper.  Other  teachers  may  find  good  reasons  for  differing 
with  me.  Others  still  may  not  wish  to  introduce  this  sort  of  work  at  an 
early  stage.  As  a  matter  of  practice,  I  myself  hold  it  back  for  some 
experience  in  outlining  and  speaking;  but  I  do  not  go  far  without  feeling 
the  need  of  definite  attention  to  mental  processes. 


CHAPTER  II 

ATTENTION FURTHER    ANALYSIS    OF    MENTAL    ACTION    AS 

AFFECTING  DELIVERY 

From  the  preceding  chapter  it  is  manifest  that  con- 
centration of  attention^  is  called  for  in  delivery.  To 
attend  to  an  idea  means  that  one  holds  it  in  the  focus  of 
consciousness,  excluding  for  the  time  all  the  swarms  of 
other  ideas  and  sensations  that  constantly  bid  for  atten- 
tion. Without  an  effort  to  control,  and  often  in  spite  of 
effort,  the  mind  may  turn  here  and  there  as  one  thing 
suggests  another  by  the  subtle  process  of  association; 
so  that  things  so  incongruous  as  art  and  artichokes, 
clouds  and  anarchy  may  jostle  each  other  in  one's  mind. 
Says  Dr.  Curry: 

"These  characteristics  of  the  act  of  thinking  will  be 
seen  by  observing  the  difference  between  thinking  and 
musing.  In  musing,  the  mind  drifts  from  idea  to  idea, 
independent  of  the  will.  There  is  little  concentration  or 
direction  of  mind:  it  moves  passively  from  idea  to  idea. 
In  thinking,  however,  there  is  an  accentuation  of  succes- 
sive pulsations.  The  mind  concentrates  its  attention 
upon  one  idea,  placing  this  in  the  foreground,  and  placing 
others  in  the  background;  then  chooses  another  idea 
from  the  many  possible  associations,  and  directs  atten- 
tion to  that.  The  prolonging  of  the  concentration  of  the 
mind  upon  an  idea  is  called  'attention.'  "^ 

An  important  part  of  attending  to  one  idea  is  attending 
from  all  others;  **for  we  cannot  attend  at  the  same  mo- 
ment to  all  the  ideas  that  make  up  a  consciousness;  the 
'grasp'  of  attention  is  limited."^  We  can  think  clearly 
and  definitely  one  thing  at  a  time.  We  cannot  attend  to 
all  the  thought  of  even  a  short  speech  at  once,  or  of  the 

^  Lessons  in  Vocal  Expression,  p.  19. 

2  Titchener,  A  Primer  of  Psychology,  p.  75. 

45 


46  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

ordinary  paragraph,  or  of  any  but  the  shortest  sentence. 
We  may  hold  in  mind  a  summary  of  a  speech;  but  the 
summary  is  only  the  thought  generahzed,  without  its 
definite,  specific  phases.  If  we  are  to  have  definite 
thinking,  we  must  also  focus,  or  center,  upon  each  suc- 
cessive  detail. 

We  are  told  also  that  attention  is  not  constant  but 
intermittent,  like  the  pulse.  In  a  different  figure  Profes- 
sor James  says^  of  the  "stream  of  consciousness,"  that 
"like  a  bird's  life,  it  seems  to  be  an  alternation  of  flights 
and  perchings.  The  rhythm  of  language  expresses  this." 
Consideration  of  the  facts  that  attention  can  grasp  clearly 
but  one  idea  at  a  time  and  that  it  is  intermittent,  leads  us 
to  the  consideration  of  centering  and  phrasing. 
,  Centering  and  Phrasing.  By  centering  we  mean 
Jfocussing  attention,  prolonging  it  upon  an  idea  until  the 
idea  stands  out  in  relief  from  other  ideas]  We  should 
center,  not  merely  upon  the  major  ideas  of  a  sentence 
or  paragraph,  but  also  upon  each  detail  which  is  neces- 
sary for  a  true  grasp  of  the  thought,  passing  over  those 
which  serve  their  purpose  while  remaining  in  the  "fringe 
of  consciousness."  This  process  mil  become  clear  from 
the  examples  below.  Another  way  to  put  it  is,  that  we 
should  focus  upon  each  part  of  the  thought  we  "wish  the 
minds  of  our  hearers  momentarily  to  dwell  upon.  How 
long  attention  w^ill  dwell  upon  each  part  of  the  thought 
depends  upon  its  importance  in  the  speaker's  mind. 
The  time  may  vary  from  a  hardly  appreciable  instant 
to  several  seconds.  ^|The  physical  manifestation  of 
centering  is  emphasis,  whether  this  be  shown  in  increased 
force,  pause,  inflection,  or  other  manner.  While  true 
emphasis  is  of  high  importance,  we  shall  say  little  of  it 
as  such;  for  the  term  too  strongly  suggests  a  mechanical 
application  of  force.     We  shall  do  better  to  think  and 

'  Psychology:     Briefer  Course,  p.  160. 


FURTHER  STUDY  OF  DELIVERY  47 

speak  of  the  mental  act  of  centering;  and  we  should 
make  sure  that  our  emphasis  springs  from  alert  thinking 
and  a  keen  realization  as  we  speak  of  the  relative  import- 
ance of  ideas  and  of  their  relations. 

There  may  be  place  for  the  study  of  word  emphasis;  for  example, 
in  working  out  a  difficult  passage  in  Shakespeare:  but  at  present  we 
should  let  it  alone.  We  do  not  now  need  it,  for  we  are  learning  a  better 
way.  Besides  it  is  a  marvelously  intricate  subject.  To  take  some 
easy  examples:  "What  is  nature  to  him.?"  Suppose  you  decide  to 
emphasize  nature,  or  perhaps  him.  You  may  in  either  case  give  quite 
a  wrong  meaning  because  you  have  failed  to  consider  whether  the  ques- 
tion is  sincere,  or  a  sneer.  I  heard  a  speaker  say,  "The  minimum  wage 
law  will  mitigate  the  evils  of  child  labor,"  emphasizing  the  correct 
word,  mitigate,  but  giving  it  an  explosive  emphasis  which  indicated  that 
he  did  not  approve  of  such  mitigation.  So  it  is  quite  possible  to  empha- 
size the  right  word  and  give  the  wrong  meaning.  It  is  possible,  if  one 
has  great  skill  in  determining  the  right  words  to  emphasize,  the  right 
sort  of  emphasis  to  give  them,  the  right  inflections,  etc.,  to  succeed  in 
the  delivery  of  these  and  far  more  difficult  sentences;  but  in  order  to  do 
so  one  must  first  gain  such  an  understanding  of  them  as,  kept  vigorously 
in  mind,  will  prompt  the  irue  delivery  without  thought  of  emphasis 
or  inflection.  Take  another  simple  case:  A  speaker  said,  "Lincoln 
was  snatched  from  obscurity,"  yielding  to  a  tendency  common,  when  the 
mind  is  sluggish,  to  stress  any  strong  word  regardless  of  sense.  If 
it  be  said  that  the  speaker  should  have  noted  which  is  the  emphatic 
word,  the  answer  is  that  rather  he  should  have  kept  his  mind  awake. 
And  this  case  suggests  another  fact,  that  often  no  one  word  bears  all 
the  stress.  Surely  not  all  rests  here  on  obscurity.  Very  wonderful 
schemes  have  been  worked  out  to  indicate  the  course  of  the  voice  in 
all  cases,  but  these  are  so  intricate  that  few  ever  succeed  in  learning  them; 
and  worst  of  all,  these  mechanical  devices  get  in  the  way  of  thinking. 
Please  note,  that  nowhere  in  this  chapter  are  you  asked  to  decide  which 
word  is  emphatic;  and  please  understand  that  nowhere  is  it  intended 
to  suggest  mechanical  as  opposed  to  mental  action. 

\  A  phrase  is  a  group  of  words  containing  a  center  of 
attention;  or,  containing  such  a  part  of  the  thought 
as  the  mind  is  momentarily  to  focus  upon.)  The  term  is 
not  to  be  confused  with  the  grammarian's  use  of  the  same 
word.  It  is  convenient  to  treat  centering  and  phrasing 
together;    for,   by  definition,   every  phrase  embodies   a 


48  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

thought  center  and  there  is  a  phrase  for  every  center. 
There  should  be  no  difficulty  in  keej)ing  the  terms  dis- 
tinct when  we  consider  that  centering  is  a  mental  action 
and  phrasing  is  a  matter  of  words. 

To  avoid  a  common  misunderstanding  note  here  that  every  word 
of  a  sentence  is  a  part,  or  the  whole,  of  some  phrase. 

\Centering  and  phrasing  are  not  fixed  and  unchanging ; 
but  vars^  as  one's  conception  of  a  passage  varies,  as 
context  varies,  or  as  the  speaker  conceives  the  content 
to  be  more  or  less  familiar  or  difficult  to  his  hearers,  i 

Note  how  the  centers  shift  in  Emerson's  sentence,  "If  I  should  make 
the  shortest  list  of  the  qualifications  of  an  orator,  I  should  begin  with 
manliness,". according  to  whether  we  assume  that  there  has  been  no 
preceding  discussion,  or  that  there  has  been  a  discussion  about  orators, 
or  statesmen,  or  soldiers,  or  about  the  qualifications  of  orators,  or  lists 
of  qualifications. 

To  study  another  illustration:  "If  ignorance  and  corruption  and 
intrigue  control  the  primaries,  and  manage  the  conventions,  and  dictate 
the  nominations,  the  fault  is  in  the  honest  and  intelligent  workshop  and 
oflSce,  in  the  library  and  parlor,  in  the  church  and  the  school."  Taking 
this  sentence  without  context,  each  detail  may  call  for  a  modicum  of 
attention  and  w^e  shall  have  many  centers.  Ignorance,  corruption  and 
intrigue  are  by  no  means  synonyms;  each  is  a  distinct  cause  of  political 
ills.  We  may  say  that  each  of  these  three  words  ends  a  phrase.  If  the 
thought  is  very  analytic,  this  would  be  right.  If,  however,  we  conceive 
that  the  main  point  of  the  sentence  is  elsewhere,  we  shall  probably 
throw  the  three  evils  together  as  a  thought  unit,  the  collective  cause  of 
political  ills, — and  end  the  phrase  with  intrigue.  This  will  be  better, 
for  if  we  give  attention  to  too  many  details,  we  shall  get  no  unified  im- 
pression from  the  sentence.  So  too  the  successive  stages  of  candidate- 
making  may  be  considered  separately,  making  three  phrases;  or,  less 
analytically,  as  but  one  whole,  though  this  last  is  hardly  probable. 
If  the  fact  of  fault  is  the  main  thought  of  the  sentence,  then  a  phrase 
will  end  with  fault;  but  if  that  is  taken  for  granted  and  the  chief  point 
is  thought  to  be  uhose  fault,  then  probably  office,  parlor  and  church 
will  end  the  remaining  phrases.  If  the  distinction  between  workshop 
and  office  is  thought  of  distinctly  they  will  form  distinct  centers;  but 
if  they  are  thought  of  together  as  representative  of  business,  there  will 
be  but  one  phrase.  The  more  analytic  treatment  would  be  extreme  and 
would  lead  to  halting  delivery. 


FURTHER  STUDY  OF  DELIVERY  49 

Tajving  the  sentence  in  its  context,  the  case  is  much  simpler.  (See, 
at  the  end  of  Chapter  IX,  the  selection  Who  is  to  Blame?)  We  find 
that  the  whole  sentence  is  a  restatement,  for  purposes  of  transition  and 
increased  definiteness,  of  what  has  been  said  or  implied  in  the  preceding 
paragraph.  On  closer  analysis  we  find  that,  considering  the  context 
both  before  and  after  this  sentence,  the  especial  purpose  is  to  emphasize 
icho  is  at  fault.  Since  the  thought  at  this  stage  is  familiar,  our  thought 
units  can  be  larger,  and  this  is  especially  true  of  the  less  important 
parts.  A  mind  keenly  alive  to  the  relation  of  this  sentence  to  the  whole, 
will  be  likely  to  take  in  all  to  intrigue  at  one  "spurt"  of  attention;  to 
note  in  very  rapid  succession  the  three  stages  of  the  process  of  nomina- 
tion; and  to  pass  over  the  idea  of  fault,  which  is  already  clearly 
in  mind,  letting  it  fall  into  the  phrase  with  "workshop  and  office," 
The  phrases  then  will  end  with  intrigue,  meeting,  convention,  nomination, 
office,  parlor,  and  school.  But  a  different  interpretation  would  change 
this.  As  has  been  indicated,  the  duration  of  attention  upon  the  phrases 
will  vary  with  their  importance,  and  this  means  their  importance  at 
the  moment. 

W^hile  phrasing  is  often  a  variable,  this  is  not  always  true.  There 
are  some  expressions  that  will  not  bear  breaking.  For  example.  The 
United  States  of  America  could  under  only  the  most  unusual  conditions 
be  conceived  as  two  thought  units.  It  is  as  much  a  unit,  a  single  name, 
as  France.  It  would  be  as  proper  to  separate  in  thought  and  delivery 
the  two  syllables  of  the  name  Fuller,  or  the  two  parts  of  John  Smith. 
The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  of  America  is  likewise  a  single  name. 

That  phrasing  and  centering  are  variable  should  not 
lead  one  to  assume  that  they  may  be  left  to  chance,  habit, 
rhythm,  or  the  necessities  of  breathing.  |It  is  impor- 
tant that  the  speaker  think  in  the  true  units  so  that  he 
may  convey  the  true  units  to  his  audience.  I  Confused 
centering  means  confused  thinking  on  the  part  of  the 
speaker,  which  will  cause  confused  expression  and, 
therefore,  confused  understanding  on  the  part  of  the  hearer. 

The  youth  who  declaimed:  "My  name  is  Norval  on  the  Grampian 
Hills, — my  father  feeds  his  flock  a  frugal  swain,"  did  not  mean  to  imply 
that  his  name  was  different  in  the  Lowlands,  and  had  only  his  slovenly 
thinking  to  blame  when  some  of  his  puzzled  mates  thought  he  said 
his  father  fed  a  flock  of  frugal  swine.  The  banquet  orator  who  proposed 
the  toast,  "Woman  without  her  man — would  be  a  savage!"  did  not  make 
a  hit  with  the  ladies  in  the  balcony;   and  there  W2£  a  just  grievance 


50  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

^when  a  preacher  in  a  fishing  town  changed  the  TVTitten  request  sent  up 
by  a  good  wife,  "A  man  going  to  sea,  his  wife  requests  the  pra^'ers  of  the 
church,"  into,  "A  man  going  to  see  his  wife — requests  the  prayers  of 
the  church."  The  importance  of  .thinking  in  the  true  units  may  be  seen 
in  attempting  to  unravel  this:     jThat  that  is  is  that  that  is  not  is  not.'j 

One  may  not  often  fall  into  as  amusing  results  as  some 
of  those  mentioned  above,  but  centering  as  absurd  in 
fact  is  common  enough.  And  strangely  enough,  bad 
centering  is  neariy  as  common  in  delivering  the  speaker's 
own  matter  as  when  interpreting  another's.  Whenever 
the  attention  slips  from  content  and  relations  are  for- 
gotten, the  voice  may  run  units  together,  or  halt  and  break 
up  units,  and  so  throw  upon  the  hearer  the  burden  of 
analysis  or  perplex  him  utterly.  But  when  the  mind 
alertly  notes  each  point,  the  voice  \d\\  guide  the  hearer's 
attention  aright,  and  listening  will  be  easy. 

We  should  recognize  the  possibility  of  over-phrasing, 
and  of  centering  attention  upon  a  portion  of  the  thought 
so  small  or  insignificant  that  it  does  not  need  or  will  not 
bear  direct  attention.  )  Over-phrasing  nags  the  attention 
of  the  audience,  destroys  unity  and  clogs  movement.^ 
Take  as  an  example :  "About  one-third- — of  our  country — 
was  originally  covered — with  the  most  magnificent 
forests."  One  cannot  really  think  "about  one-third" 
alone.  "About  one-third  of  our  country'"  is  the  true 
unit.  The  rest  is  a  single  picture  and  can  be  readily 
grasped  at  one  instant.  "And  Paul  stretched  forth  his 
hand,  and  began  to  defend  himself."  If  attention  is 
directed  to  the  first  part  alone,  it  seems  a  needless  detail; 
thrown  into  the  same  phrase  with  the  second  part,  it 
forms  a  striking  detail  of  the  picture.  The  whole  can 
be  taken  at  a  mental  glance.  There  are  some  things 
that  almost  "go  without  saying;"  they  certainly  go  with 
saying,  and  these  should  not  be  made  centers  of  atten- 
tion.    The   context   from   which   these   words,    "Public 


FURTHER  STUDY  OF  DELIVERY  51 

duty  in  this  country  is  not  discharged  by  voting,"  are 
taken,  shows  that  this  country  is  not  contrasted  with  any 
other;  so  that  **in  this  country"  needs  no  attention. 
The  phrase  is  *'PubHc  duty  in  this  country." 

frhere  is  also  a  sort  of  over-phrasing  which  occurs  at 
such  words  as  but,  and,  that,  which,  are,  and  other  con- 
nective and  introductory  words,  which  should  ordinarily 
blend  with  what  follow^s.  I  There  are  times  when  atten- 
tion should  center  upon  the  relations  which  these  words 
represent,  but  such  times  are  rare.j  This  false  phrasing 
is  sometimes  due  to  conventional  reading  habits  and  an 
erroneous  belief  that  we  should  "mind  our  pauses,"  mean- 
ing the  punctuation.  But  punctuation  has  nothing  to  do 
vnih  deliver}^  A  punctuation  mark  may  or  may  not 
coincide  vdih  the  end  of  a  phrase;  as  in,  "Oh,  yes,  I  am 
young,  I  know;  but  youth,  Sir,  is  not  my  only  crime." 
False  phrasing  most  often  arises  from  wandering  attention 
or  inability  to  think  what  comes  next.  Instead  of  paus- 
ing till  he  has  a  grip  on  his  next  clause,  the  speaker 
begins,  "But — "  and  then,  like  the  parson  in  "The  One- 
Hoss  Shay,"  "stops  perplexed  at  ^what  the — Moses — 
is  coming  next!" 

Phrases  are  not  always  followed  by  pauses,  being 
indicated  also  by  other  elements,  such  as  rate,  pitch  and 
tone  color;  and  pause  for  emphasis  may  fall  in  the  midst 
of  a  phrase.  For  example,  in  the  first  sentence  of  the 
second  paragraph  of  the  Curtis  selection,  the  three 
phrases,  "control  the  primaries  and  manage  the  conven- 
tions and  dictate  the  nominations,"  might  well  be  given 
^vdthout  pause.  On  the  other  hand,  in  "Woman!  with- 
out her,  man  would  be  a  savage,"  a  speaker  might  pause 
before  "a  savage,"  although  it  is  not  a  phrase.  In  the 
second  sentence  of  the  selection  referred  to,  there  might 
be  a  pause  after  "essentially"  if  the  speaker's  mind  were 
strongly  caught  by  that  thought;    yet  undoubtedly  the 


52  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

words  "of  his  political  duty"  belong  in  the  phrase  with  the 
preceding  words,  for  as  merely  echoing  "public  duty" 
they  hold  no  meaning  upon  which  the  mind  should  rest. 
It  should  be  noted  also  from  the  last  example,  that  phrases 
do  not  necessarily  end  with  important  words. 
I  A  more  common  fault  than  over-phrasing  is  insufficient 
or  under-phrasing, — ^the  attempt  to  take  the  thought  in 
too  large  unit^.  This  is  the  mark  of  the  mind  which 
skims  over  the  surface,  seeing  little.  IThe  effect  of  under- 
phrasing  is  that  the  audience  is  unable  to  grasp  the  thought 
fully.l 

But  the  most  serious  fault,  akin  to  this,  is  failure  to 
center  long  enough  and  firmly  enough  upon  each  phrase. 
The  chief  reason  a  beginner  usually  speaks  too  fast  is 
that  he  does  not  think  enough  as  he  goes.  This  results 
in  vagueness  of  delivery  and  indistinctness  of  impression 
upon  the  hearer.  He  may  have  understood  clearly  in 
preparation;  he  may  have  a  bare  understanding  as  he 
speaks;  but  he  does  not  grasp  the  thought  in  its  fulness. 
His  mind  should  receive  a  distinct  impression  from  each 
phrase.  )  This  calls  for  the  deliberation  which  is  charac- 
teristic of  experienced  speakers.  Although  they  may 
move  rapidly,  it  is  without  haste.  It  will  help  the 
speaker  to  dwell  upon  his  ideas,  if  he  fixes  firmly  in 
mind  the  truth  that  his  audience  cannot  move  as  rapidly 
as  he  can.  They  are  not  so  familiar  with  his  line  of 
thought.  If  they  are  to  see  the  pictures  suggested, 
compare  his  statements  with  their  experience,  in  a  word, 
think  back  to  him,  they  must  have  time. 

The  Relations  of  Ideas.  |  Not  only  must  the  speaker's 
mind  focus  upon  each  phrase,  but  also  it  must  recognize 
the  relation  of  idea  to  idea.  I  Upon  the  realization  of 
these  relations  as  one  speaks  depends,  in  part,  correct 
emphasis,  pitch,  rate,  tone  color  and,  in  particular, 
proper  inflection. 


FURTHER  STUDY  OF  DELIVERY  53 

Some  ideas  are  principal  ideas,  some  subordinate; 
some  are  related  as  cause  and  effect;  some  are  repetition 
or  echo,  some  new  thoughts;  some  are  concessive  rather 
than  in  support  of  the  main  thought,  and  so  on  through 
all  possible  relations  of  ideas  to  each  other  and  to  the 
central  theme. 

Distinguish  Principal  and  Subordinate  Ideas.)  Much 
poor  work,  showing  itself  peculiarly  in  bad  centering  and 
consequent  false  emphasis,  is  due  to  failure  to  discriminate 
values.  I  Attention  should  vary  with  degree  of  importance./ 
This  does  not  mean  the  absolute  value  of  an  idea,  but  its 
value  in  its  place  with  reference  to  the  larger  thought 
one  is  expressing.  The  principle  of  this  paragraph  has 
already  been  illustrated  with  the  sentence  beginning, 
"If  ignorance,  corruption,  etc.,"  and  will  become  clearer 
from  what  follows. 

Echo  and  New  Idea.  The  word  nemhere  has  no  refer- 
ence to  novelty  or  originality,  but  liters  to  an  idea  that 
has  not  appeared  before  in  the  particular  discussion.! 
The  word  idea  as  here  used  should  not  be  taken  too 
largely.  Each  phrase  contains  an  idea  as  we  are  now 
using  the  term.  [Echo  is  the  recurrence  of  an  idea  already 
expressed.  The  echo  may  or  may  not  be  in  the  same 
words  as  the  part  referred  to.  It  most  frequently  refers 
to  the  immediately  preceding,  but  may  refer  to  any  pre- 
ceding part.  If  you  will  turn  to  the  Curtis  selection  you 
will  note  that  vote  in  the  second  sentence  echoes  voting 
in  the  first  and  political  duty  echoes  public  duty,  and  that 
very  heart  echoes  essentially  in  the  same  sentence. 
Every  sentence  in  this  selection,  after  the  first,  contains 
one  or  more  echoes.  They  are  especially  numerous  in 
the  last  part  of  the  last  sentence.  Almost  any  sentence 
in  a  speech  may  be  considered  a  link  in  a  chain,  reaching 
both  forward  and  backward.  |lt  is  this  interlinking 
which  gives  firmness  of  structure,  and  w^here  it  is  absent 


54  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

the  style  is  abrupt  and  liable  to  be  disjointed.  I  Where 
the  echoes  are  not  clearly  distinguished,  the  delivery 
will  also  be  disjointed  and  lacking  in  coherence,  j  They 
have  been  called  the  "connective  tissue"  of  languagcf. 

A  fine  example  of  coherence  through  echo  is  found  in  Lincoln's  Gettys- 
burg Address  (See  Index) .  Analyze  for  new  idea  and  echo  the  first  four 
sentences.  Note  in  particular  how  might  live  echoes  endure.  Then  turn 
to  the  last  sentence  of  the  speech  and  note  the  echoes  from  the  opening 
sentences,  and  see  how  the  last  phrase,  usually  read  with  flat  dullness, 
is  really  charged  with  meaning  by  the  echo  of  endure  by  shall  not  perish. 
As  an  example  of  an  important  echo,  take  the  words  has  failed  at  the  end 
of  the  second  sentence  of  the  second  paragraph  of  the  Curtis  selection. 
Determine  what  they  echo.  This  hard  sentence,  and  indeed  the  whole 
paragraph,  is  unintelligible  unless  this  echo  is  clearly  recognized.  There 
are  in  any  composition  numerous  echoes,  recognition  of  which,  although 
they  may  be  less  important  than  some  of  those  referred  to,  is  necessary 
for  informing  the  voice  with  the  true  meaning. 

That  the  new  idea  must  be  recognized  is  too  obvious 
for  illustration.  In  the  majority  of  cases,  it  is  the  new 
idea  which  for  the  moment  is  of  chief  importance;  it  is 
the  one  now  to  be  impressed.  The  echo,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  already  in  mind  and  is  often  given  chiefly  for 
the  purpose  of  keeping  relations  clear;  although  it  may 
be,  in  a  given  case,  the  most  important  part  of  a  sentence, 
as  in  the  case  of  repetition  for  emphasis. 

In  the  sentence,  "For  prosperous  labor,  industry  and  commerce, 
three  conditions  are  necessary:  first,  liberty;  second,  liberty;  third, 
liberty,"  the  thu-d  liberty,  though  bearing  the  same  meaning  as  the 
first,  is  much  more  significant.  The  echoes,  noted  above,  from  the 
Gettysburg  Address,  might  live  and  shall  not  perish,  are  certainly  large 
with  meaning,  though  opinion  might  differ  as  to  whether  they  embody 
the  chief  ideas  of  their  sentences. 

A  new  idea  is  not  necessarily  important,  though  it 
usually  should  have  some  attention.  When  Lincoln 
said,  "Now  we  are  in  a  great  civil  war,  etc.,"  the  fact  of 
war  was  too  obvious  to  need  much  attention,  though 
a  "new  idea,"  but  the  new  idea  of  testing  free  government 


FURTHER  STUDY  OP  DELIVERY  55 

was  a  major  point.  So  while  this  method  of  analysis 
is  an  aid  in  our  study,  neither  it  nor  any  other  method 
can  relieve  us  from  the  use  of  our  brains. 

The  term  echo  is  hardly  adequate,  though  the  one  ordi- 
narily used.  Many  a  phrase  which  contains  a  back 
reference,  is  really  an  amplification,  or  a  restatement 
with  so  much  added  meaning  and  force  that  the  feeling 
of  reference  is  not  prominent,  although  present.  To 
echoes  should  be  added  restatements  and  amplifications. 
And  there  are  also  instances  of  restatements  where  the 
back  reference  is  entirely  lost.  Echo  or  not  echo  is  a 
question  of  fact;  that  is,  the  question  is  not,  might  not 
a  word  or  clause  refer  back,  but  does  it? 

Is  the  Thought  Forward  Looking?  Most  of  the 
thought  relations  need  no  discussion,  but  there  is  one  that 
should  be  stressed  because  of  its  bearing  upon  a  common 
fault.  The  fault  is  that  of  dropping  the  inflection  at 
nearly  every  pause,  giving  a  sort  of  limping  effect.  Now, 
speaking  generally,!  a  downward  inflection  is  our  instinc- 
tive way  of  indicating  a  degree  of  completeness  in  the 
thought;  ^ while  an  upward  inflection  indicates  that  the 
mind  is  looking  forward  rather  than  resting  upon  what  is 
at  the  instant  being  said,  i  To  illustrate,  in  speaking  the 
sentence,  "Patriotism,  when  it  rises  to  the  heroic  stand- 
ard, is  a  positive  love  of  country;  and  it  will  do  all  and 
sacrifice  all  for  its  object,"  the  voice  would  naturally 
rise  at  any  pause  other  than  those  at  country  and  object. 
The  fault  referred  to  is  evidently  that  of  one  who  fails 
to  keep  alert  to  the  relations  of  his  ideas,  and  especially 
to  the  forward  relations.  I  jTo  him  every  stop  is  a  terminal. | 
The  remedy  seems  to  be  to  practice  much  upon  sentences 
which  demand  strongly  the  look  ahead;  such  as  the 
following : 

"On  the  banks  of  the  Idus;   in  the  fertile  valleys  of  the  Euphrates; 
under  the  shadow  of  the  mighty  Pyramids  and  along  the  borders  of 


56  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

the  Nile;  in  frigid  Russia,  and  in  sunny  Greece;  under  the  soft  skies 
of  Italy  and  of  Spain;  along  the  slopes  where  the  grapes  are  gathered 
and  the  herds  are  pastured  in  beautiful  France;  behind  the  dykes  of 
Holland;  over  the  plains  and  amid  the  forests  of  Germany;  far  north 
in  the  Scandinavian  retreats,  where  muscle  is  trained  by  hardship, 
and  storm  nurtures  the  courage  to  do  and  dare;  within  the  sea-girt  isle, 
whose  scepter  of  authority  has  been  wielded  by  an  Alfred,  by  a  William 
the  Conqueror,  by  an  Elizabeth,  and  by  a  Victoria;  up  in  the  Highlands 
where  Bruce  and  Wallace  led  their  clans,  and  Burns  sang  songs  as  endur- 
ing as  Homer's,  and  Scott  waved  his  wizard  wand;  in  Ireland,  where 
the  echoes  of  the  voice  of  O'Connell  still  linger  in  the  air,  persuasive; 
potential,  and  the  name  of  Robert  Etnmet  stirs  like  a  bugle  call;  here 
in  this  broad  land  of  America; — everywhere,  of  whatever  race  or  clime, 
man  feels  himself  to  be  hindered,  cramped,  thwarted,  crully  wronged, 
without  liberty." 

"The  hills. 

Rock-ribbed,  and  ancient  as  the  sun;   the  vales 

Stretching  in  pensive  quietness  between; 

The  venerable  woods;  rivers  that  move 

In  majesty;  and  the  complaining  brooks 

That  make  the  meadows  green;  and,  poured  round  all, 

Old  Ocean's  gray  and  melancholy  waste, — 

Are  but  the  solemn  decorations  all 

Of  the  great  tomb  of  man." 

Sometimes  the  fault  has  grown  into  a  habit  so  strong 
that  it  will  not  yield  to  "mental  treatment"  alone;  and 
then  the  inflections  should  be  drilled  up  arbitrarily,  till 
the  ear  grows  to  demand  them. 

WTiat  is  said  of  the  treatment  of  this  fault  may  be  applied,  in  prin- 
ciple, to  the  treatment  of  any  other  delivery  faults  that  persist  very 
long  after  good  mental  action  on  the  platform  has  been  attained. 

There  is  the  correlative  fault  of  rarely  letting  the  voice 
fall,  even  at  the  end  of  sentences.  Such  delivery,  an 
approach  to  intoning,  lacks  positiveness  and  directness. 
It  is  due  to  taking  too  cursory  a  view,  failing  to  center 
definitely  enough.  But  it  is  sometimes  an  affectation. 
It  is  common  among  stump  speakers.  The  practice 
of  sustaining  all  inflections,  though  employed  by  some 
eminent  speakers,  and  sometimes  defended  as  a  means 


FURTHER  STUDY  OF  DELIVERY  57 

of  making  the  voice  carry  over  great  audiences,  is,  I 
believe,  rarely  justified  and  it  quickly  establishes  a  bad 
habit.     It  seems  to  be  going  out  of  vogue. 

These  Suggestions  are  Practicable.  At  this  stage 
students  have  said,  "How  is  it  possible  to  attend  to  so 
many  things  at  once,  especially  when  one  is  addressing 
an  audience?"  The  question  is  natural,  but  rests  upon 
a  misunderstanding.  I  do  not  mean  that  you  should 
be  saying  to  yourself,  This  is  the  main  idea.  This  is  an 
echo  of  such  and  such  a  passage.  That  would  be  but 
little  better  than  to  be  saying.  This  word  is  emphatic, 
and,  I  must  pause  here.  But  I  do  mean  that  you  are  to 
be  sensible  of  values  and  relations  as  you  speak.  The 
better  your  preparation  and  grasp,  the  easier  your  task. 
For  a  beginner  to  control  his  mind  sufiiciently  may  not 
be  easy,  but  for  this  control  he  must  work  and  practice. 
But  after  all,  what  is  urged  upon  you  must  be  practicable, 
for  it  is  only  what  we  do  in  a  wide-awake  conversation. 
We  are  striving  only  to  reproduce  and  accentuate  upon 
the  platform  the  mental  activities  of  conversation. 

I  Pause.     The  grand  secret  of  success  in  carrying  on  all-^ 
the  complex  process  is  pause.)    The  rapid  turning  of  atten- 
tion from  the  particular  idea  to  its  relations  and  to  the 
audience,  all  becomes  possible  when  we  take  time.     There 
is   hardly   a   beginner  who   does   not   need  this   advice: 
Train  yourself  strictly  to  the  habit    of  pausing  until  the ^^ 
next  thought  and  its  relations  are  clearly  grasped  by  youri" 
mind,\  before  giving    it    to    your  audience.     Remember 
also  that  while  the  speaker  needs  time  to  think  what  is 
to  be  said,   the  audience  needs  time  to  think  of  what  has 
been  said.     "Speech  is  silvern;  silence  is    golden,"   says 
the  proverb,  and  silence  is  never  more  golden  than  in  the 
midst  of  speech. 

Do  not  fear  your  pauses  will  be  too  long.  What  may 
seem  to  a  beginner  a  long  wait  will  really  be  very  short. 


58  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

When  your  mind  is  doing  its  proper  work  in  your  pauses, 
they  will  not  seem  long.  Do  not  fear  that  drawling  will 
result  from  deliberate  pausing.  When  it  is  not  inten- 
tional, drawling  is  the  sign  of  a  listless,  or  of  a  too  intro- 
spective state  of  mind,  and  not  the  expression  of  alert 
thinking. 

Do  not  confuse  pause  with  hesitation.  W'e  pause  to 
think;  we  hesitate  because  we  cannot  think.  Nothing 
is  more  tiresome  to  an  audience  than  a  hesitating,  halting 
delivery.  It  seems  to  be  due  chiefly  to  beginning  a 
clause  without  a  firm  forward-looking  grasp  of  it. 

Hesitation  is  especially  annoying  when  the  gaps  are  filled  with  urs 
and  uhs.  Grunting  is  no  part  of  thinking.  Heed  the  plea  of  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes: 

"And  when  you  stick  on  conversations  burrs. 
Don't  strew  your  pathway  with  those  dreadful  urs" 

Pause  gives  opportunity  for  breathing,  but  a  speaker 
should  never  stop  simply  to  breathe.  That  is  to  let 
physical  necessities  tyrannize  over  mental  processes. 
So  far  as  consciousness  is  concerned,  pause  should  be 
only  an  opportunity  to  think.  Still,  breathing  is  an 
important  matter.  A  well  controlled,  suflBcient  supply 
of  breath  is  necessary  to  a  well  supported  tone  and  helps 
to  steady  the  nerves.  A  speaker  should  cultivate  the 
habit  of  utilizing  nearly  every  pause  to  take  breath. 
The  opportunities  are  always  sufficient,  without  inter- 
fering with  the  thought  movement. 

1  Summarizing  will  be  found  very  helpful;  first,  because 
to  make  a  good  summary  one  must  have  the  clearest 
understanding;  and,  secondly,  because  if  you  put  into 
your  summary  just  the  right  turn  of  the  thought,  the 
real  point  of  view  and  the  true  emphasis,  and  fix  this  in 
your  mind  before  you  rise  to  speak,  it  will  aid  you  greatly 
in  giving  to  each  part  its  due  importance  and  in  relating 
each  to  the  whole.  \  A  summary  is  like  a  bird's-eye  view: 


FURTHER  STUDY  OF  DELIVERY  59 

by  omitting  details  it  makes  clearer  the  relation  of  parts. 
Analysis  is  necessary  in  order  to  distinguish  relations, 
but  after  analysis  must  come  synthesis.  (The  practice 
of  summarizing  vnW  help  in  gaining  qualities  of  delivery 
not  at  all  common,  coherence  and  structural  emphasis; 
which  will  in  turn  give  the  hearer  unity  of  impression./ 
I  use  the  term  structural  emphasis  because  emphasis  is' 
too  commonly  thought  of  as  concerned  with  the  sentence 
only.  ^lany  speakers  who  deliver  individual  sentences 
well,  fail  in  giving  due  value  to  each  part  as  related  to 
the  whole.  Summarize  your  speech,  then,  as  a  whole, 
and  summarize  each  paragraph.  Make  these  as  brief 
and  clear-cut  as  you  can,  in  order  that  they  may  be  easily 
carried  in  mind.  If  a  short  speech  cannot  be  summarized 
in  one  rather  brief  sentence,  look  upon  that  fact  as  a 
danger  signal:  there  is  probably  a  lack  of  unity  or  of 
clearness  in  your  thought. 

The  Thought  Chain.  Another  excellent  practice  for 
training  the  thinking  of  a  young  speaker  is,  when  once 
the  details  of  a  speech  have  been  worked  out,  to  go, 
silently  at  first,  over  the  thought  chain  or  thought  move- 
ment, time  after  time,  until  he  has  worn  such  a  groove 
in  his  mind  that  he  can  without  reference  to  notes,  and 
without  mental  wandering,  proceed  through  his  entire 
speech  step  by  step,  individualizing  each  point  and  seeing 
each  in  its  proper  relations.  A  practical  aid  is  mentally 
to  throw  mto  the  transitions,  such  phrases  as,  to  be  sure, 
granted,  for  example,  to  take  up  another  point,  so  true 
is  this,  as  was  said  before.  These  accentuate  the  rela- 
tions, and  hence  prompt  more  definite  expression.  They 
also  aid  the  memory,  for  trouble  in  remembering  is  due 
usually  to  weak  transition. 

Monotony  of  Delivery  is  a  fault  so  common  that  it  is 
worth  while  to  point  out  here  that  \  monotony  is  due 
fundamentally  to  failure  in  discrimination, V-to  drifting; 


60  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

and  that  it  can  hardly  exist  where  the  true  value  and 
character  of  each  idea  is  recognized  and  relations  are 
clearly  disc(^rned;  provided  there  be  emotional  as  well 
as  intellectual  discrimination. 

How  to  Work.  The  methods  set  forth  in  this  chapter 
can  be  most  advantageously  practiced  by  the  beginner 
with  a  WTitten  speech  or  a  selection;  but  they  are,  for 
the  most  part,  quite  as  applicable  to  an  extemporaneous 
speech,  which  in  modern  terminology  is  a  speech  prepared 
and  outlined,  but  not  fixed  in  phraseology.  Let  there  be 
the  most  complete  understanding  of  each  detail  and  of 
the  relation  of  idea  to  idea,  and  then  let  there  be  speaking 
with  deliberate,  complete  thinking.  Do  not  trj^  to  *'make 
a  speech,"  but  only  to  command  the  thought  and  to  ex- 
press it;  first  as  to  one  person  (to  an  actual  person  if 
you  have  a  patient  friend),  and  then  to  a  larger  and  larger 
number.  You  should,  of  course,  speak  before  actual 
audiences  as  often  as  feasible.  Impromptu  speaking — 
that  is,  without  special  preparation, — indulged  in  occa- 
sionally, may  be  helpful,  since  it  is  closest  to  actual 
conversation;  but  it  is  not  so  good  for  the  thorough- 
going training  of  mental  action  outlined  here.  Much 
practice  of  it  develops  carelessness,  rambling  speech, 
and  the  "gift  of  gab."  Do  not  imagine  that  mere  fluency 
is  greatly  to  be  sought  after;  nine-tenths  of  us  quickly 
gain  too  much  of  it.  When  you  do  engage  in  impromptu 
speaking,  choose  subjects  of  which  you  really  have  knowl-' 
edge,  and  the  danger  will  be  less. 

Restatement.  To  make  expression  clearer  and  stronger, 
accentuate  mental  processes  which  are  the  natural  cause 
of  expression.  Proper  pausing  and  phrasing  will  spring 
from  recognition  of  the  successive  thought  units;  and  the 
length  of  pause  and  rate  of  utterance  will  be  regulated 
by  the  relative  values  which  the  mind  assigns  to  each 
step.     From  centering  will  spring  emphasis,  which  will 


FURTHER  STUDY  OF  DELIVERY  61 

be  due  emphasis,  if  the  relation  of  part  to  part  is  clearly 
in  mind.  Recognition  of  relations  will  prompt  true 
inflections. 

Change  of  pitch  arises  from  discrimination  of  ideas 
and  values;  climax  from  a  sense  of  the  development  of 
the  thought  and  feeling;  and  change  of  tone  color  from 
change  of  attitude,  as  from  the  explanatory  to  the 
argumentative  mood.  Where  these  elements  of  expres- 
sion exist,  monotony  is  impossible.  It  should  be  under- 
stood that  this  analysis  is  but  a  rough  one;  the  various 
elements  may  combine  in  countless  ways.  Expression 
is  too  complex  a  matter  for  brief  analysis;  if,  indeed, 
complete  analysis  be  possible. 

Do  not  Use  these  Methods  Mechanically.  Since  the  teachings  of 
this  chapter  can  be  easily  translated  into  mechanical  methods,  it  may 
be  best  to  restate  the  difference  between  such  methods  and  the  methods 
intended.  Take  the  matter  of  emphasis  as  typical:  One  working  by 
the  mechanical  method  decides  that  a  given  word  is  emphatic;  say, 
to-night  in  the  sentence,  "Are  you  going  down  town  to-night?  "He  then 
consciously  stresses  that  word.  It  is  an  act  not  very  unlike  that  of  the 
pianist  in  pressing  a  pedal;  the  more  practiced  he  is,  of  course,  the  less 
attention  the  act  requires.  One  working  by  our  method,  holds  in  mind 
the  meaning  he  wishes  to  convey,  and  trusts  the  conception  to  prompt 
the  right  emphasis,  as  in  conversation.  If  he  finds  difficulty  in  securing 
the  right  expression,  he  accentuates  his  thinking,  perhaps  saying  to 
himself  ,"The  question  is  between  to-night  and  to-morrow  night."  He 
may  even  decide  quite  definitely  which  word  is  chiefly  significant; 
but  still  seeks  right  expression  from  concentrated  attention  rather  than 
by  consciously  applied  stress.  x\nd  if  on  rare  occasions  he  finds  the 
mechanical  method  helpful,  he  looks  upon  it  rather  as  a  last  resort  than 
as  sound  practice;  for  the  mechanical  method  inserts  a  process,  unknown 
to  normal  expression,  between  the  mental  action  and  the  voice. 

I  add  a  few  practice  sentences. 

"Through  the  whole  line  of  march  they  did  not  see  one  man,  not  one 
woman,  not  one  child,  not  one  four-footed  beast  of  any  kind." 

A  blind  vender's  sign:     "I  can't  see  you,  but  I  can  feel  your  money." 

"The  morbid  man  cries  out  that  there  is  always  enough  wrong  in  the 

world  to  make  a  man  miserable.     Conceded;    but  wrong  is  always 


62  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

being  righted:  there  is  always  enough  that  is  good  and  right  in  the 
world  to  make  us  joyful." 

"The  liberty  which  I  think  is  staked  on  the  contest  is  not  political 
liberty,  in  any  general  and  undefined  character,  but  our  own  well- 
understood  and  long  enjoyed  American  liberty." 

"For  a  thousand  years  in  thy  sight  are  as  but  yesterday  when  it  is 
past,  and  as  a  watch  in  the  night." 

"To-day  I  killed  a  man  in  the  arena  and  when  I  broke  his  helmet  clasp, 
behold!  he  was  ray  friend." 

"There  was  once  on  the  staff  of  the  great  Frederick  a  musician  named 
Klepman,  who  conceived  the  idea  of  immortalizing  his  name  by  compos- 
ing an  opera  on  the  life  and  exploits  of  Attila,  king  of  the  Huns." 

"It  comes  along  a  little  wire 

.  Sunk  in  the  deep  sea; 

It  thins  in  the  clubs  to  a  little  smoke 

Between  one  joke  and  another  joke; 
For  a  city  in  flame  is  less  than  the  fire 
That  comforts  you  and  me." 


Those  who  wish  more  detailed  treatment  of  the  topics  of  this  chapter 
are  referred  to  the  works  of  Dr.  S.  S.  Curry,  particularly  Lessons  in 
Vocal  Expression;  to  Kirby's  Public  Speaking  and  Reading,  to  Clark's 
Mental  Technique  and  Literary  Interpretation,  and  to  other  works  too 
numerous  to  mention. 


CHAPTER  III 

PRINCIPLES  OF  ATTENTION 

Many  of  the  problems  of  public-speaking,  plainly 
enough,  are  related  to  attention.  |In  the  first  place, 
it  is  evident  that  the  primary  aim  of  a  speaker  is  to  hold 
the  attention  of  his  audience j  |  Secondly |  as  we  con- 
sidered in  the  preceding  chapters,  (  one  of  the  grand 
essentials  of  good  speaking  is  "thinking  at  the  instant 
of  delivery.";  And,  thirdly,  jas-in  all  studies, |  we  need 
power  of  attention  in  the  preparation  of  speeches. 
Throughout  this  subject,  then,  we  shall  need  knowledge 
of  the  principles  of  attention. 
^  Both  Clearness  and  Vividness  Needed.  (That  clear- 
ness of  thought  is  necessary  is  plain;  for  attention  can- 
not be  sustained  upon  confused  ideas,  f  In  nine  cases 
out  of  ten,  when  a  speaker  goes  to  pieces,  the  reason 
lies  in  lack  of  clarity  of  thinking,  particularly  in  lack  of 
clear  transitions.  The  audience  will  soon  give  up  the 
attempt  to  follow  confused  discourse.  But  more  than 
cold  clearness  is  needed;  /our  ideas  should  have  a  vivid- 
ness that  commands  attention.^  This  truth  needs  em- 
phasis as  applied  to  the  speaker  himself.  "The  one 
prime  requisite,"  says  Professor  Titchener,^  "is  self- 
forget  fulness,  absorption  in  the  subject  for  its  own  sake, — 
such  forgetfulness  as  shall  leave  one  as  unconcerned  before 
an  audience  as  in  one's  study.  ...  I  know  of  no  golden 
rule,  still  less  of  any  royal  road.  Inaccuracy,  careless- 
ness, half -devotion, — these  are  the  bane  of  our  students; 

^I  am  glad  to  learn  that  a  distinction  found  useful  by  a  teacher  of 
public  speaking,  is  sustained  by  so  good  an  authority  as  DeGarmo. 
Interest  and  Education,  p.  144, 

^From  a  private  letter,  quoted  by  permission. 

63 


64  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

once  a  man  is  earnest  enough  to  forget  himself,  to  be 
ready  to  laugh  at  himself  with  the  audience  without 
losing  his  head,  to  forget  how  he  looks  and  feels,  he  is 
successful  and  persuasive  with  or  without  technical 
knowledge  and  practice;  thouj^h  of  course  these  things 
are  assets,  if  he  has  them."  |What  the  speaker  needs, 
then,  is  such  preparation  that  his  ideas  will  command 
his  attention,  and  awaken  him  to  energetic  thinking  and 
earnestness.   \ 

What  Makes  an  Idea  Strong  in  the  Battle  for  Atten- 
tion? At  any  moment  there  are  innumerable  ideas  and  sen- 
sations struggling  to  get  into  the  focus  of  your  attention. 
The  strongest — that  is,  the  strongest  at  the  moment — 
wins.  To  understand  how  and  why  ideas  gain  strength 
to  command,  we  need  to  know  more  of  the  nature  of 
attention. 

The  Forms  of  Attention.  Although  there  is  _  but  one 
attention,  it  may  be  considered  in  three  aspects:  When 
we  attend  to  an  object  without  conscious  effort,  our 
attention  is  said  to  be  involuntary,  or  passive,  or  pri- 
mary ,-j-there  being  no  generally  accepted  term.  /When 
we  make  an  effort  to  attend,  our  attention  is  said  to  be 
voluntary,  or  active,  or  secondary!  We  shall  use  the 
terms    primary   and    secondary. 

I  ^"There  are  some  things  that  we  77inst  attend  to,  whether 
we  will  or  no.  .  .  Such  are  loud  sounds  and  brilliant 
lights;  things  that  move  amidst  unmoving  surroundings; 
things  that  for  some  reason  contrast  with  their  surround- 
ings." This  is  the  primary  attention,  so  called  be- 
cause it  is  the  attention  we  have  first  as  infants,  the  kind 
we  have  in  common  with  animals. 

"Sometimes,  on  the  other  hand,  we  seem  to  be  holding 
our  mind  upon  an  object  by  main  force.  .  .  .  Thus 
we  may  listen  intently  to  a  very  faint  sound,  a  sound  that 

^The  quotations  are  from  Titchener's  Primer  of  Psychology,  pp.  76-80, 
but  the  terms  adopted  are  from  his  later  Textbook  of  Psychology. 


PRINCIPLES  OF  ATTENTION  65 

under  ordinary  circumstances  would  have  no  power 
whatever  to  attract  the  attention;  or  we  may  note  the 
minute  differences  between  two  shells  or  two  plants, 
finding  distinctions  where  the  ordinary  uninterested 
observer  would  find  nothing  but  similarity."  This  is 
called  secondary  attention.  It  develops  from  primary 
attention  as  a  result  of  training;  and  it  always  involves 
effort.  "The  list  of  things  we  must  attend  to  is  not 
very  long.  And  things  not  in  the  list  cannot,  of  course, 
attract  the  attention  so  forcibly.  Hence  attention  to 
them  is  ...  attention  under  difficulties,  attention  with 
several  claimants  upon  consciousness.  The  strongest 
idea    wins." 

This  secondary  or  active  attention,  however,  may  pass 
over  into  primary,  or  passive.  "The  man  of  science 
who  is  comparing  shells  or  plants  may  become  so  absorbed 
in  his  work  that  he  forgets  his  dinner  or  misses  an 
appointment;  his  mind  is  held  as  firmly  by  his  work 
as  it  could  be  by  a  loud  sound  or  a  movement.  In  such 
a  case,  an  object  which  has  no  right  of  its  own  to  engross 
consciousness  has  gained  this  right  in  course  of  time  and 
practice.  At  first  attended  to  actively,  with  an  effort, 
and  barely  able  to  hold  its  own  against  distracting  ideas, 
it  now  absorbs  the  full  measure  of  attention;  the  stu- 
dent is  buried  or  sunk  in  his  task."  This  attention,  since 
it  is  like  primary  attention  in  being  without  conscious 
effort,    is   called  derived  primary.    I 

Now,  while  the  power  to  hold  one's  attention  true  is 
one  of  the  characteristics  of  the  developed  mind,  while 
"active  attention  is  the  battle  which  must  be  won  by 
those  who  mean  to  master  their  surroundings  and  rise 
to  man's  full  height  above  the  animal  world,"  and  cer- 
tainly is  highly  important  to  the  public  speaker;  never- 
theless, it  is  easily  seen  that  the  less  the  effort  involved  in 
attending  to  a  given  idea  the  better,  for  the  power  of 
attention  will  be  less  quickly  exhausted,  "x^ctive  atten- 
tion appears  as  a  stage  of  waste." 

Importance  of  Derived  Primary  Attention  to  the 
Speaker.     The   speaker   utilizes   the   primary   attention 


66  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

of  his  hearers;  that  is,  he  uses  change,  movement,  etc.: 
but  it  is  e\adent  that  he  wishes  them  to  attend  to  things 
and  ideas  which  cannot  command  their  primary  atten- 
tion; and,  also,  that  he  does  not  wish  them  to  Hsten  with 
more  effort  than  is  necessary,  lest  they  soon  weary. 
Again,  notice  especially  that  the  speaker  himself  should 
be  freed  from  the  waste  of  active  attention,  so  that  amid 
the  distractions  of  the  platform,  his  mind  may  be  held 
to  its  complex  task  with  the  least  possible  effort;  that  is, 
that  his  ideas  should  be  so  developed  as  to  hold  his 
derived  primary  attention,  or  at  least,  that  they  should 
approach  that  stage. 

Training  will  Develop  Derived  Primary  Attention  to 
a  Given  Subject.  After  you  have  specialized  in  a  sub- 
ject for  a  time,  like  the  man  of  science  with  his  shells, 
you  find  that  the  subject  draws  you  almost  irresistibly. 
You  try  to  attend  to  some  dull  topic  and  the  thought  of 
your  hobby  draws  you  away.  And  nearly  everything 
you  see,  hear,  or  in  any  way  experience,  suggests  that 
hobby  to  you  and  leads  you  back,  in  spite  of  your  best 
intentions,  to  whatever  is,  for  the  time  being,  your  special 
interest.  This  may  be  your  life  study  or  vocation; 
or  it  may  be  of  lesser  importance  to  you,  your  avocation; 
or  it  may  be  a  merely  temporary  interest. 

A  friend  who  was  trying  to  determine  what  sort  of  gutters  to  put  on 
his  new  house,  told  me  he  could  hardly  get  by  a  house  without  looking 
at  its  gutters.  Gutters  were  of  small  importance  to  his  life,  but  just 
at  that  time  he  had  learned  a  great  deal  about  them;  and,  as  is  the 
case  with  almost  any  subject  we  give  attention  to,  found  them  interesting. 

.^Attention^and  Interest.  First,  in  considering  how  to 
develop  attention,  we  note  thatf  attention  and  interest 
go  together.  *'Wliat-we-attend-to  and  what-interests- 
us  are  synonymous  terms,"  says  James. ^  Interest 
and   attention   are   related     as    cause   and    effect,   and 

^  Psychology:    Briefer  Course,  p.  448. 


PRINCIPLES  OF  ATTENTION  67 

either  may  be  cause  of  the  other.  We  need  not 
stress  the  fact  that  we  attend  to  what  interests  us;  but 
this  restates  rather  than  solves  our  problem.  We  shall 
make  more  progress  by  considering  the  correlative  truth, 

t Things  are  interesting  because  we  attend  to  them."^ 
his  is  true  because — 

Interest  Grows  with  Knowledge.  * 'Interest  grows 
with  knowledge,  and,  in  fact,  is  made  by  knowledge. t^ 
"One's  permanent  interests,  one's  tendencies  to  attend," 
says  Thorndike,-^  "are  largely  dependent  upon  what  one 
has,  on  one's  permanent  store  of  knowledge.  Ordinarily 
if  one  fills  his  mind  with  a  subject  he  will  become  inter- 
ested and  attend  to  it."  This  suggests  that  one  may 
have  to  force  attention  to  a  subject  until  knowledge  is 
acquired. 

The  great  scientist  and  teacher,  Agassiz,  handed  a  new  student  a 
fish  to  study  and  report  upon.  Next  day  the  student  came  back  with 
his  task  finished.  The  master  sent  him  back  for  another  day,  and  then 
for  another.  The  student  became  peevish;  but  soon  with  increasing 
knowledge  he  became  interested,  and  he  studied  the  fish  for  weeks  with 
growing  enthusiasm. 

Derived  Interest.  We  are  now  ready  for  the  principle 
which  lies  back  of  the  truth  that  interest  grows  with 
knowledge.  Derived  interest  is  explained  in  a  classic 
statement  in  James's  Talks  to  Teachers,  which  can  readily 
be  adapted  to  our  problem: 

\  "Any  object  not  interesting  in  itself  may  become 
interesting  through  being  associated  vdih  an  object  in 
which  an  interest  already  exists.  The  two  associated 
objects  grow,  as  it  were,  together;  the  interesting  portion 
sheds  its  interest  over  the  whole;  and  thus  things  not 
interesting  in  their  own  right  borrow  an  interest  which 
becomes  as  real  and  as  strong  as  that  of  any  natively  inter- 
esting thing.  I 

".  .  .  There  emerges  a  very  simple  abstract  pro- 
gram for  the  teacher  to  follow  in  keeping  the  attention 

^Pillsbury,  Attention,  p.  55.     ^Idem.  p.  54.      ^Human  Nature  Club,  p.  78. 


68  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

of  the  child:  Begin  with  the  line  of  his  native  interests, 
and  offer  him  objects  that  have  some  immediate  connec- 
tion with  these. 

"Next,  step  by  step,  connect  with  these  first  objects 
and  experiences  the  later  objects  and  ideas  which  you 
wish  to  instill.  Associate  the  new  with  the  old  in  some 
natural  and  telling  way,  so  that  the  interest,  being  shed 
along  from  point  to  point,  finally  suffuses  the  entire 
system  of  objects  of  thought. 

"If,  then,  you  wish  to  insure  the  interest  of  your  pupils, 
there  is  only  one  way  to  do  it;  and  that  is  to  make  certain 
that  they  have  in  their  minds  something  to  attend  with. 
.  '.  .  .  That  something  can  consist  in  nothing 
but  a  previous  lot  of  ideas  already  interesting  in  them- 
selves and  of  such  a  nature  that  the  incoming  novel 
objects  which  you  present  can  dovetail  into  them  and 
forms  some  kind  of  logically  associated  and  systematic 
whole." 

(  Here  then  is  a  major  secret:  to  make  a  dull  subject 
interesting  associate  it  with  something  already  interest- 
ing.! What  that  something  shall  be  depends  upon  the 
individual  mind,  upon  individual  tendencies  and  experi- 
ences. Unless  the  ideas  appealing  for  attention  do  find 
themselves  welcomed  by  related  ideas  already  in  mind, 
they  are  quickly  driven  from  consciousness.-  Show  a  boy 
that  physics  can  explain  the  curve  of  a  ball,  or  that  mathe- 
matics has  a  relation  to  his  chosen  career  as  engineer, 
and  you  may  change  a  truant  into  an  eager  student. 
The  dull  subjects  are  now  related  to  his  experience  of 
interestingness. 

While  this  is  the  best  way  to  gain  interest  in  dull  topics,  it  seems  that 
relating  the  uninteresting  to  any  existing  knowledge  may  win  interest, 
at  least  temporarily;  for  the  mind  takes  interest  in  the  discovery  of 
likeness  and  unlikeness,  and  especially  in  identification.  "Witness  how 
one  looking  at  an  unfamiliar  picture  will  become  enthusiastic  on  discover- 
ing that  it  is  a  new  view  of  a  familiar  scene,  and  with  what  pleasure  he 
identifies  feature  after  feature  of  the  landscape.  A  boy  studying  his 
Bible  lesson  languidly  came  quickly  to  attention  on  learning  that  Paul 
traversed  the  same  Italy  the  youngster  had  studied  about  with  equal 


PRINCIPLES  OF  ATTENTION  69 

languor  in  school.  There  is  danger,  however,  that  distaste  for  one  sub- 
ject may  be  transferred  to  another  and  that  the  reaction  may  be,  "Oh, 
that's  the  same  old  stuff!" 

The  following  statement  may  add  clearness  by  its  pat  figure: 
"Getting  ideas  is  a  system  of  grafting,  and  an  idea  cannot  be  grafted 
on  an  alien  stock.  It  is  the  teacher's  business  to  find  a  group  of  old 
ideas  that  can  receive  the  new.  .  .  .  Budding  and  grafting  on  to 
this  native  stock  is  our  only  possibility.  .  .  .  When  one  by  training 
becomes  able  to  hold  himself  to  the  same  task  of  thought  for  a  long  time, 
it  brings  about  a  sort  of  mono-ideism.  Ideas  hovering  about  the  central 
thought  continually  come;  all  other  incongruous  ideas  are  inhibited. 
Such  thought  becomes  in  the  highest  degree  effective."^ 

So  we  see  that  what  is  needed  is  not  merely  filhng  one's 
mind  with  heterogeneous  information,  but  relating  the 
dull  subject  to  existing  interests.  The  more  knowledge 
we  acquire  the  more  relations  we  can  find.  The  dull 
subject  may  prove  to  be  related  to  history,  to  literature, 
to  science,  to  business,  to  sport;  for  it  is  a  trite  saying 
that  any  subject  fully  developed  is  found  to  be  related 
to  every  other  subject.  This  explains  why  it  is  easier 
to  interest  a  well-informed  than  an  ignorant  man  in  a  new 
topic:   he  has  so  many  more  points  of  contact. 

We  may  note  here  that  we  associate  things  or  ideas  sometimes  be- 
cause they  are  alike,  sometimes  because  unlike;  sometimes  because 
they  occur  together  in  time  or  place,  that  is,  by  contiguity;  sometimes 
because  they  are  related  as  cause  and  effect,  or  have  a  common  source, 
and  so  on. 

Novelty  and  Interest.  That  novelty  attracts  atten- 
tion is  clear  enough;  so  clear  that  we  need  an  under- 
standing of  the  limitations  of  this  truth,  lest  we  over- 
estimate its  importance.  Mere  novelty  may  catch, 
but  cannot  hold  attention.!  Indeed,  the  extremely  novel 
has  less  power  over  the  mind  than  the  moderately  novel. 
Professor  James  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  "the  absolutely 
new  is  the  absolutely  uninteresting."  Again  he  says, 
"We  hate  anything  absolutely  new,  anything  without 
a  name,  and  for  which  a  name  must  be  forged."^     When 

^  Pyle,  Outlines  of  Educational  Psychology,  p.  213. 

^  Talks  to  Teachers,  p.  159. 


70  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

a  thing  is  absolutely  new  we  have  no  points  of  contact 
with  it,  nothing  to  compare,  contrast  and  identify  with  it; 
that  is,  it  gains  no  derived  interest,  and  the  mind  is 
baffled.  The  fact  that  Hebrew  is  read  from  right  to  left 
is  not  interesting  to  a  man  who  does  not  read  at  all. 
As  AngelP  says,  the  absolutely  new  is  unintelligible. 
Royce^  puts  the  matter  most  clearly: 

"Novel  objects,  that  are  otherwise  indifferent,  .  .  . 
tend  to  awake  our  attention  and  to  become  objects  of 
definite  consciousness,  at  the^  moment  when  we  are  able 
in  some  respect  to  recogpi^e  them.  Apart  from  some 
decided  importance  wMch  a  novel  object  possesses  for 
our  feelings,  I ^/ie  new  in  our  experience,  in  so  far  as  it  is 
unassimilable,  tends  to  escape  our  notice!^  ...  If  a 
pupil  is  to  be  made  to  understand  novel  objects,  they  must 
be  made  so  far  as  possible,  to  seem  relatively  familiar 
to  him  at  each  step  of  the  process,  as  well  as  relatively 
novel.  Otherwise,  he  may  simply  fail  to  notice  them. 
.  .  .  .  We  see  in  this  world,  in  general,  what  we  come 
prepared  to  see.'* 

The  chief  interest  in  novelty,  then,  lies  in  our  powder 
to  assimilate  it,  to  compare,  contrast  and  identify  it 
with  experience.  1  If  this  were  not  so,  then  the  engineer 
seeing  a  new  type  of  bridge  would  find  comparatively 
little  interest  in  it;  for  he  knows  other  types  in  which 
are  to  be  found  every  feature  of  this  new  type.  Yet  he 
spends  hours  over  it,  while  a  layman  passes  it  as  simply 
"a  queer  sort  of  bridge." 

It  is  well-nigh  impossible  to  present  anything  absolutely  new  to  the 
educated  adult;  he  at  once  begins  to  discover  points  of  contact.  Primi- 
tive man  furnishes  us  with  better  illustrations.  A  party  of  scientists 
who  traveled  in  a  sailing  vessel  to  the  southern  extremity  of  South 
America,  came  upon  a  tribe  of  natives  who  had  no  knowledge  of  white 
men  or  their  ways.  The  aborigines  were  observed  to  take  great  interest 
in  the  small  boats,  but  paid  no  attention  to  the  ship.  The  boats  could 
easily  be  compared  with  dugouts,  but  the  relation  of  the  ship  to  their 
experience  was  too  much  for  their  thinking  powers. 

^  Psychology,  p.  422.     ^  Outlines  of  Psychology,  p.  235. 


PRINCIPLES  OF  ATTENTION  71 

A  bit  of  imagination  may  help  us  here.  Suppose  that  a  man  were  to 
come  among  us  who  has  no  knowledge  of  human  relations,  and  yet  is 
able  to  communicate  with  us.  What  a  large  number  of  our  common 
notions  would  be  meaningless  to  him!  How  could  he,  for  instance, 
give  his  attention  to  arbitration.^  He  knows  nothing  of  war,  or  even  of 
the  rights  of  individuals;  he  knows  nothing  of  peace-making.  Where 
shall  we  begin  our  explanation.'  Perhaps  he  has  observed  strife  among 
animals.  Perhaps  we  can  give  him  an  inkling  by  arranging  a  fight  for 
the  possession  of  food,  with  an  arbiter  coming  in  to  divide  the  food  among 
the  combatants.  Then  he  may  have  some  little  means  of  assimilating 
our  explanations.  We  may  be  able  to  show  him  real  war.  Little  by 
little  he  may  come  to  understand  the  history  of  human  warfare  and 
become  interested  in  arbitration. 

Let  one  who  needs  illustration  of  what  is  said  above  about  novelty, 
take  a  party  of  unlettered  folk  through  a  museum,  and  observe  what 
awakens  keenest  interest. 

Interest  in  the  Familiar.  We  may  learn  again  from 
James  :^ 

I'Tlie  maximum  of  attention  may  then  be  said  to  be 
found  wherever  there  is  a  systematic  harmony  or  unifica- 
tion between  the  novel  and  the  old.  It  is  an  odd  circum- 
stance that  neither  the  old  nor  the  new,  by  itself,  is  inter- 
esting: the  absolutely  old  is  insipid;  the  absolutely  new 
makes  no  appeal  at  all.  The  old  in  the  new  is  w^hat 
claims  attention,4-the  old  with  slightly  new  form.  No 
one  wants  to  hear  a  lecture  on  a  subject  completely  dis- 
connected with  his  previous  experience,  but  we  all  like 
to  hear  lectures  on  subjects  of  which  we  know  a  little 
already." 

We  may  accept  this  as  sound  doctrine,  although  it  might  lead  us 
to  overlook  the  truth  that  there  is  interest  in  extremely  familiar  things. 
As  Royce  says:  "When  I  try  to  attend  to  a  thing  I  either  try  to  recog- 
nize or  to  understand  it,  or  I  take  contentment  in  an  already  existent 
recognition  or  understanding  of  it,  and  dwell  upon  it  accordingly."  (Italics 
mine.)  We  find  ourselves  going  over  the  same  experiences,  stories,  data, 
time  after  time.  Witness  the  carpenter  on  an  idle  day  turning  to  his 
shop  and  fondling  his  tools.  The  business  man's  mind  continues  to  run 
on  his  affairs;  the  athlete  still  thinks  of  his  game.  These  are  their 
"interests,"  the  things  they  "attend  to."  ^Particularly  do  we  return  to 
review  great  emotional  experiences,/ as  the  soldier  his  battles.     And 

^Talks  to  Teachers,  p.  107. 


72  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

especially  after  struggling  with  the  new  and  difficult,  we  turn  with 
relief  to  familiar  scenes  and  familiar  thoughts.  With  too  much  of  the 
new  we  may  suffer  homesickness. 

.  Perhaps  we  should  say  that  there  is  nothing  absolutely 
familiar;  that  we  can  always  find  something  new  in  old 
things  or  ideas.  It  is  characteristic,  at  least  of  the  trained 
mind,  to  find  ever  new  phases  of  familiar  thing.*?.  Some 
old  things  bore  us  sadly,  of  course;  perhaps  because 
they  are  inherently  unimportant,  perhaps  because  we 
really  know  too  little  about  them.  But  when  we  are 
dealing  with  inherently  interesting  things,  and  continue 
to  add  to  our  knowledge  of  them,  interest  once  enlisted, 
does  not  lapse,  except  temporarily  from  weariness. 

Differences  in  People.  When  we  consider  interest- 
ing and  persuading  audiences  we  should  recognize  that 
individuals  and  groups  may  differ  greatly  in  their  relish 
for  novelty.  Some  are  more  adventurous  thinkers 
than  others,  have  more  intellectual  curiosity;  and  all 
educated  men  are  to  some  degree  trained  to  speculation. 
Yet,  according  to  Royce,^  we  all  make  "a  stubborn  resist- 
ance, which  increases  with  age  and  training,  to  the 
formation  of  novel  customs,  or  to  the  acceptance  of 
novel  ideas."  With  regard  to  this  mental  setness  we 
may  observe  that  some  men  at  thirty  are  as  old  as  others 
at  sixty. 

I  To  summarize,  interest  is,  generally  speaking,  strong- 
est in  old  things  in  new  settings,  looked  at  from  new 
angles,  given  new  forms  and  developed  with  new  facts 
and  ideas,  with  new  light  on  familiar  characters,  new 
explanations  .of  familiar  phenomena,  or  new  applications 
of  old  truths.! 

Sustained  Attention.  The  problem  of  sustaining  at- 
tention, once  gained,  though  involved  in  the  preceding, 
needs   special  consideration.     We  noted   in   Chapter   II 

^  Outlines  of  Psychology,  p.  234. 


PRINCIPLES  OF  ATTENTION  7S 

that  attention  is  intermittent  and  cannot  be  sustained 
upon  one  idea  for  more  than  a  few  seconds.  While 
this  may  not  be  admitted  by  all  as  regards  derived  pri- 
mary attention  (a  degree  of  attention  we  cannot  ahvays 
hope  to  have);  it  will  generally  be  agreed  that  James 
is  right  in  saying:^ 

"There  is  no  such  thing  as  voluntary  attention  [secon- 
dary, active]  sustained  for  more  than  a  few  seconds 
at  a  time.  What  is  called  sustained  voluntary  attention 
is  a  repetition  of  successive  efforts  which  bring  the  topic 
back  to  the  mind.  The  topic  once  brought  back,  if  a 
congenial  one,  develops;  and  if  its  development  is  inter- 
esting it  engages  the  attention  passively  for  a  time.  .  . 
This  passive  interest  may  be  long  or  short.  .  .  . 
(No  one  can  possibly  attend  continuously  to  an  object  that 
\does  not  change.J 

In  another  work^  James  says  on  the  same  topic: 
"The  subject  must  be  made  to  show  new  aspects  of 
itself;  to  prompt  new  questions;  in  a  word  to  change. 
.  .  .  You  can  test  this  by  the  simplest  possible  case 
of  sensorial  attention.  Try  t©  attend  steadfastly  to  a 
dot  on  the  paper.  .  .  .  You  presently  find  that 
.  .  .  .  either  your  field  of  vision  has  become  blurred, 
so  that  you  see  nothing  distinct  at  all,  or  else  you  have 
involuntarily  ceased  to  look  at  the  dot  in  question.  .  . 
But  if  you  ask  yourself  questions  about  the  dot — how 
big  it  is,  how  far,  what  shade  of  color;  in  other  words, 
if  you  turn  it  over,  if  you  think  of  it  in  various  ways, 
along  with  various  kinds  of  associates,^ — you  can  keep 
your  mind  on  it  for  a  comparatively  long  time." 

Professor  James  says  ^  also: 

"  'The  natural  tendency  of  attention  when  left  to  itself 
is  to  wander  to  ever  new  things ;  and  so  soon  as  the  inter- 
est of  its  object  is  over,  so  soon  as  nothing  is  to  be  noticed 
there,  to  something  else.  >  //  we  wish  to  keep  it  upon  one 
and  the  same  object,  we  must  seek  constantly  to  find  out 
something  new  about  the  latter\  especially  if  other  power- 

^  Psychology:     Briefer  Course,  p.  224.      2  falks  to  Teachers,  p.  107. 
^  Briefer  Course,  p.  227. 


74  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

ful  impressions  are  attracting  us  away.'  These  words 
of  Helmholtz  are  of  fundamental  importance.  And  if 
true  of  sensorial  attention,  how  much  more  true  are  they 
of  the  intellectual  variety!  The  conditio  sine  Qua  non 
of  sustained  attention  to  a  given  topic  of  thought  is  that 
we  should  roll  it  over  and  over  incessantly  and  consider 
different  aspects  and  relations  of  it  in  turn.     .     .     . 

''And  now  we  see  why  it  is  that  what  is  called  sus- 
tained attention  is  the  easier,  the  richer  in  acquisitions 
and  the  fresher  and  more  original  the  mind.  In  such 
minds,  subjects  bud  and  sprout  and  grow.  At  every 
moment,  they  please  by  a  new  consequence  and  rivet 
the  attention  afresh.  But  an  intellect  unfurnished  with 
materials,  stagnant,  unoriginal,  will  hardly  be  likely 
to  consider  any  subject  long.  A  glance  will  exhaust 
its  possibihties.  .  .  .  The  longer  one  does  attend  to  a 
topic  the  more  mastery  of  it  one  has.  And  the  faculty 
of  bringing  back  a  wandering  attention  over  and  over 
again  is  the  very  root  of  judgment,  character  and  will." 

The  same  truth  is  put  in  a  practical  form  by  Angell:^ 
"To  keep  a  thought  alive  we  must  keep  doing  some- 
thing with  it."  Continuing  he  speaks  of  a  school  boy 
staring  at  his  book,  but  unable  to  keep  his  mind  from 
more  genuine  interests.  "For  such  a  youth  the  sole 
possibility  of  progress  consists  in  taking  the  topic  and  forc- 
ing his  attention  to  turn  it  over,  ask  questions  of  it, 
examine  it  from  new  sides.  Presently,  even  though  such 
questions  and  inspection  be  very  foolishly  conceived, 
the  subject  will  start  into  life,  will  begin  to  connect  itself 
with  things  he  already  knows,  will  take  its  place  in  the 
general  furniture  of  his  mind;  and  if  he  takes  the  next 
and  all  but  indispensable  step,  and  actually  puts  his 
knowledge  to  some  use,  applies  it  to  some  practical 
problem,  incorporates  it,  perhaps,  in  an  essay,  or  even 
talks  about  it  wdth  others,  he  will  find  he  has  acquired 
a  real  mental  tool  he  can  use,  and  not  simply  a  dead  load 
he  must  carry  on  his  already  aching  back.  /  What  we  call 
attending  to  a  topic  for  a  considerable  time  Vill,  therefore, 
always  be  found  to  consist  in  attending  to  changing 
phases  of  the  subject.'] 

^Psychology,  p.  77. 


PRINCIPLES  OF  ATTENTION  75 

Suppose  now  you  wish  to  keep  your  mind  upon,  not 
a  dot,  but  some  topic  for  a  speech;  let  us  say  Lincoln. 
You  cannot  continue  to  think  just  Lincoln;  you  must 
think  about  Lincoln.  To  do  this  you  need  to  know  things 
about  him,  how  he  looked  and  acted,  what  he  did  and  what 
his  characteristics  were.  The  more  you  know  about  him, 
and  the  more  ready  your  mind  in  sifting  and  arranging  what 
you  know,  the  longer  you  can  concentrate  upon  the  topic. 
Concentration  is  not  a  continuous  stare  at  a  single  idea."i 

Summary.  1|  We  now  have  in  mind  these  truths :  That 
the  development  of  thought  to  command  attention 
depends  upon  abundance  of  knowledge;  that  this  knowl- 
edge should  be  related  to  and  combined  wdth  existing 
knowledge;  and  that  the  interest  of  novelty  lies  chiefly 
in  our  ability  to  assimilate  it  to  existing  knowledge. 
We  learn  further  that  to  sustain  attention  to  a  single 
topic,  requires  change  in  our  way  of  thinking  about  it, 
a  shifting  of  our  attention  from  point  to  point,  which  also 
requires  w^ealth  of  knowledge.  lYou  will  not  be  at  loss  to 
see  how  these  principles,  which  will  become  familiar  in  the 
following  chapters,  bear  upon  the  attention  of  the  speaker 
himself  in  his  preparation  and  upon  the  platform,  and  upon 
his  efforts  to  gain  and  keep  the  attention  of  his  audience. 

Concreteness  and  Attention.  I  The  average  person 
finds  diflSculty  in  holding  his  mind  upon  an  abstraction! 
Ability  to  do  so  comes  as  the  result  of  training,  j  A  con- 
crete idea  is  more  vivid  i  We  attend  most  easily  to  sensa- 
tions,— ^what  reaches  us  through  eyes,  ears,  etc.;  next,  to 
mental  representations  of  sensations,  and  w4th  most 
diflficulty  to  abstractions  and  generalizations.  Unless 
an  abstraction  is  easily  translatable  into  concrete  terms, 
it  is  verv^  elusive  indeed.  A  legal  textbook  would  be 
impossible  reading  even  to  a  student  of  the  law,  were 
it  not  for  the  constant  references  to  cases  in  which  John 

^  Knowlton,  Business  Psychology,  p.  65. 


76  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Doe  and  Richard  Roe  have  struggled  over  their  personal 
and  property  rights .  Most  of  us  find  a  work  on  philosophy 
hard  reading,  e\'en  though  we  understand  all  the  terms 
used.  The  style  is  too  abstract  for  us.  We  are  relieved 
by  an  occasional  illustration.  When  a  speaker  indulges 
in  much  abstract  discussion  we  either  cease  to  listen,  or  do 
our  best,  hoping  we  understand  and  waiting  for  the  wel- 
come "Now  to  illustrate."     Says  DeGarmo:^ 

("Concreteness  contributes  perhaps  more  than  any  other 
single  phase  of  instruction  both  to  clearness  and  to  vivid- 
ness. It  lays  the  foundation,  therefore,  for  interest. A 
It  is  an  old  saying  that  'the  road  to  hell  is  paved  with 
abstractions.'  However  this  may  be  in  theology,  it  is 
certain  that  in  education  a  path  so  paved  rarely  leads  to 
the  goal  of  vivid  ideas.  .  .  .  Lotze  tells  us  that  all 
the  strivings  of  the  mental  life  not  only  begin  mth  the 
concrete  perceptions  of  the  senses,  but  that  thej^  return 
to  them  to  obtain  material  and  starting  points  for  new 
development  of  the  mind's  activity.  If  this  be  true,  the 
road  paved  with  abstractions  is  the  road  away  from 
interest,  away  from  vi^'id  and  life-giving  thought." 

The  term  concreteness  is  here  given  its  usual  meaning,  the  opposite 
of  abstraction.  "A  concrete  name  is  the  name  of  a  thing,  the  abstract 
name  is  the  name  of  a  quality,  attribute,  or  circumstance  of  a  thing. 
Thus  red  house  is  the  name  of  a  physically  existing  thing,  and  is  con- 
crete; redness  is  the  name  of  one  quality  of  the  house,  and  is  abstract."^ 
A  tall  man,  a  tall  tree,  a  tall  monument,  are  all  concrete  terms,  but  tall- 
ness,  denoting  a  quality  drawn  out  or  abstracted  from  them,  is  abstract. 

Concreteness  and  Clearness.  In  all  the  preceding  dis- 
cussion we  might  have  emphasized  the  rather  evident  fact 
that|clearness  is  developed  along  with  interest!  by  gaining 
wealth  of  knowledge,  by  linking  the  new  to  the  old,  the 
unknown  to  the  known,  comparing,  turning  ideas  over  and 
viewing  them  from  many  angles.  The  longer  we  dwell 
upon  ideas  with  active  mind  the  clearer  they  become. 
In  the  words  of  Royce  •? 

^  Interest  and  Education,  p.  l^l.         ^  Jevons,  Logic,  p.  20. 
^  Outlines  oj  Psychology,  p.  261. 


PRINCIPLES  OF  ATTENTION  77 

"If  our  attention  succeeds  in  any  case,  .  .  .  the 
object  of  this  interest  grows  clearer  in  our  minds;  that  is, 
grows  more  definite  and  gets  a  better  'rehef  upon  its 
background.  Indeed,  attention  is  the  conditio  sine  qua 
non  of  all  important  intellectual  processes." 

Let  us  now  give  some  spepial  attention  iolihe  relation 
of  concreteness  to  clearness./  First,  observe,  the  value  of 
abstract  thinking  is  not  questioned.  /Abstraction  and 
generalization  are  necessary  to  rapid  and  progressive 
thought.^  The  clear  thinker  will  be  able  to  put  his 
ideas  into  both  abstract  and  concrete  form,  and  one  form 
will  be  a  corrective  of  the  other,  j  But  we  must  observe 
that  general  and  abstract  terms  are  treacherous  and  often 
cover  confusion  and  ignorance.  The  ignorant  but  preten- 
tious man  may  talk  loudly  of  justice,  liberty,  social 
welfare,  wonders  of  science,  philosophy,  without  definite 
meaning  behind  his  words.  He  will  explain  wireless 
telegraphy  with  a  comprehensive  gesture  and  one  word, 
"Electricity";  or  questions  about  mental  phenomena 
with,  "That's  _ps5^cholog>%"  or,  "That  is  nothing  but 
suggestion.  "^^ 

Gardiner^  says  we  must  expect  abstractions  from  two  classes  of  men : 
"first,  the  great  thinkers  whose  intellectual  powers  work,  as  it  were,  by 
leaps  and  flights;  in  the  other  extreme,  from  people  who  are  too  lazy  to 
think  their  subject  out  in  specific  detail.  .  .  .  It  is  only  the  man  who 
can  think  clearly  who  is  not  afraid  to  think  hard,  and  to  test  his  thought 
by  the  actual  facts  of  experience." 

The  German  philosopher  Schopenhauer,^  speaking  of  writers  who  have 
little  to  say,  remarks:  "Another  characteristic  of  such  writers  is  that 
they  always  avoid  a  positive  assertion  when  they  can  possibly  do  so,  in 
order  to  leave  a  loophole  for  escape  in  case  of  need.  Hence,  they  never 
fail  to  choose  the  more  abstract  way  of  expressing  themselves;  whereas 
intelligent  people  use  the  more  concrete." 

^  For  a  well  balanced  discussion  of  this  subject  see  Adams,  Exposition 
and  Illustration  in  Teaching,  chapter  on  Elaboration. 
2  Forms  of  Prose  Discourse,  p.  52. 
^  Essay  On  Style,  found  conveniently  in  Cooper's  Theories  of  Style. 


78  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Professor  Hill  sums  up  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  general 
words  :^  The  general  term  covers  more  ground  but  is  less  definite  than 
the  specific.  It  serves  to  classify  and,>as  it  were,  store  up  knowledge. 
General  words  are  of  service  in  writings  intended  to  popularize  science, 
enabling  the  writer  to  avoid  technical  terms.  General  expressions  are 
sometimes  more  striking  than  specific  ones;  as  when  we  say  of  some- 
thing, "It  is  perfection,"  or  when  Byron  spoke  of  a  "sublime  medioc- 
rity." General  words  are  a  resource  of  those  who  seek  to  disarm 
opposition,  or  to  veil  unpleasant  facts;  but  also  of  those  who  seek  "to 
hide  poverty  of  thought  in  richness  of  language,  to  give  obscurity  an 
air  of  cleverness  and  shallowness  the  dignity  of  an  oracle,  to  cover  the 
intention  to  say  nothing  with  the  appearance  of  having  said  much,  or  to 
'front  South  by  North,'  as  Lowell's  'Birdofredum  Sawin'  did.  They 
abound  in  the  resolutions  of  political  parties,  'appeals'  of  popular  orators, 
'tributes  to  departed  worth,'  second-rate  sermons,  and  school  composi- 
tions." 

Few  of  us  would  find  it  possible  to  prove  all  our  generali- 
zations; but  we  certainly  should  avoid  using  abstrac- 
tions and  generalizations  which  we  have  not  tested  by 
comparison  with  the  world  of  fact  and  experience.  Un- 
fortunately we  accept  far  too  much  from  teachers  and 
books.  One  is  often  surprised  at  the  wild  way  in  which, 
for  example,  economic  terms  are  bandied  by  those  to 
whom  they  have  but  the  haziest  meaning.  Just  as  the 
truth  that  two  and  two  makes  four  is  learned  by  the  child 
by  putting  together  two  apples  and  two  apples,  so  other 
conceptions  should  be  put  to  the  test  of  reality. 

We  can  learn  the  meaning  of  words  from  dictionaries,  but  we  are 
liable  to  absurd  mistakes  when  we  use  dictionaries  which  "divest  the 
words  of  all  concrete  accompaniments  that  really  would  make  them 
intelligible  to  the  learner."  (By  the  way,  do  you  at  once  get  a  clear-cut 
meaning  from  that  quotation?)  If  you  are  not  familiar  with  the  word 
apperceptio?i,  turn  to  a  small  dictionary  and  learn  that  it  means  "mental 
perception."  Perhaps  you  think  you  understand.  Look  in  your 
Webster  and  find  that  apperception  is  "perception  involving  self- 
consciousness."  Now  if  you  are  told  that  apperception  is  the  process 
I  have  been  urging  and  illustrating  under  the  head  of  Derived  Interest, 

^  Foundations  of  Rhetoric,  p.  187.  A  book  on  common  grammatical 
and  rhetorical  errors,  very  sane  and  very  useful  in  a  student's  library. 


PRINCIPLES  OF  ATTENTION  79 

you  may  understand  the  further  definition,  "Cognition  through  the 
relating  of  new  ideas  to  familiar  ideas."  A  student  of  the  law  of  contracts 
may  think  he  understands  consideration  when  he  reads  the  definition; 
but  after  a  week  spent  in  the  study  of  cases  he  knows  that  he  did  not 
know.  We  can  rarely  be  sure  of  a  word  until  we  refer  it  to  concrete 
situations. 

Even  familiar  words  in  new  combinations  may  be  elusive.  Unless 
we  have  given  more  than  ordinary  attention  to  such  terms  as  social 
consciousness,  survival  of  the  fittest,  natural  selection,  socialization  of 
wealth,  we  are  not  likely  to  know  their  precise  meaning,  and  thus  to 
have  earned  the  right  to  use  them. 

Experience  with  students  in  interpreting  selections  proves  that 
abstract  statements  are  far  more  often  misunderstood,  even  when  simple, 
than  concrete  ones.  Take  the  sentence  (found  in  the  Curtis  selection, 
at  the  end  of  Chapter  IX):  "When  an  American  citizen  is  content  with 
voting  merely,  he  consents  to  accept  a  doubtful  alternative."  This  has 
often  been  misunderstood,  and  more  often  remained  meaningless,  until 
it  has  been  translated  into  concrete  terms,  as  "Jeremy  Diddler  and 
Dick  Turpin;"  or,  better,  into  the  names  of  two  rascally  candidates 
known  to  the  student.  For  me  it  becomes  significant  when  I  think  of 
an  aldermanic  election  where  one  candidate  was  described  as  a  knave 
and  the  other  as  a  fool.  Indeed,  how  can  one  think  about  the  matter — 
really  think  about  it — otherwise.'  Is  it  not  the  natural  action  of  the 
mind  when  one  tries  to  attend  to  this  expression,  to  refer  to  actual 
political  conditions.'^  From  the  same  paragraph  is  taken  this  sentence, 
which  has  made  more  trouble  than  the  other:  "In  a  rural  community 
such  as  this  country  was  a  hundred  years  ago,  whoever  was  nominated 
for  office  was  known  to  his  neighbors,  and  the  consciousness  of  that 
knowledge  was  a  conservative  influence  in  determining  nominations." 
Surely  not  a  difficult  thought,  but  it  has  proved  very  indistinct  to  many 
until  there  has  been  pictured  a  country  village  with  a  caucus  in  progress : 
Bill  Jones  is  an  aspirant  for  the  nomination  for  supervisor,  but  the  leaders 
are  shaking  their  heads  because  all  the  folks  know  of  Bill's  shady  con- 
nections with  a  certain  bridge  company.  x\ny  clear-headed  person  gets 
readily  enough  the  main  outlines  of  the  selection  from  which  these 
quotations  are  taken;  but  it  is  much  clearer,  and  of  course  much  more 
vivid  to  those  who  by  experience,  observation  and  study,  have  gained 
a  knowledge  of  political  conditions. 

LClearness,  evidently  enough,  is  a  matter  larger  than  concreteness^ 
Ijy  every  means,  educated  men  should  strive  to  use  words  accurately 
as  an  aid  to  thinking  and  speaking  clearly.     It  is  regrettable  that  so 
many  students  are  content  to  use  words  with  but  a  guess  at  their  meaning. 


80  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Emphasis  on  this  subject  is  justified  in  a  textbook  on  public  speaking, 
for  accurate  use  of  words  and  clear  thinking  are  not  likely  to  go  with 
"hot  air"  and  bombast. 

Specific  VS.  General  Words.  I  have  used  abstract 
and  general  as  synonyms,  and  there  is  ample  authority  for 
so  doing  ;^  but  generalizations  can  be  expressed  in  concrete 
terms,  as,  "All  men  are  liars."  Herbert  Spencer,  in 
developing  his  principle  of  economy  of  attention,  tells 
us  that  concrete  and  specific  expressions  are  more  vi\-id 
and  require  less  effort  to  translate  them  into  thoughts, 
than  abstract  and  general  terms.  Plainly  enough  the 
specific  is  yet  more  vivid  than  the  concrete.  A  horse 
may  bring  to  mind  but  a  hazy,  characterless  image;  but 
old  Dobbin  brings  a  picture  with  proper  color,  shape  and 
size.     Spencer^  tells  us  "We  should  avoid  such  a  sentence  as : 

"In  proportion  as  the  manners,  customs,  and  amusements  of  a  nation 
are  cruel  and  barbarous,  the  regulations  of  their  penal  code  will  be 
severe. 

"And  we  should  write: 

"In  proportion  as  men  delight  in  battles,  bull-fights,  and  combats 
of  gladiators,  will  they  punish  by  hanging,  burning,  and  the  rack." 

But  the  change  shows  less  the  advantage  of  the  concrete 
over  the  abstract  than  that  of  the  specific  over  the  general. 

As  an  example  of  the  greater  power  of  the  specific  to  catch  attention, 
take  this:  A  newsboy  passes  through  a  car  shouting,  "Papers  here, 
morning  papers!"  All  faces  wear  an  indifferent  look.  "New  York 
papers.  World,  Herald,  Sun,  American^'  and  several  call  him  back. 
The  specific  names  had  stirred  interest  in  particular  papers,  or  topics 
associated  with  particular  journals,  as  sport,  politics,  foreign  news. 
"All  about  the  baseball  games,"  may  succeed  better  yet;  and  still  better, 
"Athletics  beat  the  Giants;  Baker  gets  two  home-runs!" 

It  may  be  said  concerning  Spencer's  sentences,  that 
while  the  second  is  undoubtedly  more  vi^-id  and  more 
likely  to  catch  attention,  we  shall  have  the  clearest  under- 

^  Spencer,  Philosophy  of  Style,  found  in  Cooper's   Theories  of  Style, 
p.  277;  Hi]],  Foundations  of  Rhetoric,  p.  188;  Titchener,  Textbook,  Tp.  529. 
^  Cooper,  Theories  of  Style,  p.  278. 


PRINCIPLES  OF  ATTENTION  81 

standing  of  the  thought  when  we  take  the  two  together; 
for  when  the  general  truth  is  what  is  aimed  at,  there  is 
always  a  possibility  that  the  hearer  may  not  deduce  it  from 
a  specific  statement.  Note  how,  in  the  following  sentence, 
the  concrete  and  abstract  statements  help  each  other: 

"In  the  nature  of  things  we  may  not  be  presumed  to  have  attained 
through  evolutionary  processes  that  perfection  in  which  the  lower 
nature  shall  be  in  complete  subjection  to  the  higher.  The  ghost  of 
our  four-footed  ancestry  will  not  down." 

Summary.  I  For  the  sake  of  both  clearness  and  vivid- 
ness, we  should  think  and  express  our  thoughts,  not 
merely  in  abstract  and  general  terms,  but  also  in  concrete 
and  specific  terms.  As  a  rule,  the  concrete  attracts 
attention  more  than  the  abstract,  and  the  specific  still 
more  than  the  merely  concrete  .w 

Dewey's  Definitions  of  the  Term  Concrete.  Some 
writers  give  to  the  terms  abstract  and  concrete  modified 
meanings  which  are  not  without  suggestion  for  us.  Pro- 
fessor Dewey  says '} 

"Concrete  denotes  a  meaning  marked  off  from  other 
meanings  so  that  it  is  readily  apprehended  by  itself. 
When  we  hear  the  words,  table,  chair,  store,  coat,  we  do 
not  have  to  reflect  in  order  to  grasp  what  is  meant.  The 
terms  convey  meaning  so  directly  that  no  effort  at  transla- 
tion is  needed.  The  meanings  of  some  terms  and  things, 
however,  are  grasped  only  by  first  calling  to  mind  more 
familiar  things  and  then  tracing  the  connections  between 
them  and  what  we  do  not  understand.  Roughly  speaking, 
the  former  kind  of  meanings  is  concrete;  the  latter  ab- 
stract." So  "what  is  familiar  is  mentally  concrete." 
If  you  are  beginning  physics  molecule  is  abstract,  for  you 
have  to  translate  it;  when  at  home  in  the  subject  the  term 
becomes  concrete.  So  concreteness  is  a  relative  matter, 
depending  on  the  intellectual  progress  of  the   individual. 

In  this  use  of  the  word,  \Be  concrete  means:  Think 
out  your  subject  in  terms  witli  which  you  are  so  familiar, 

1  How  We  Think,  p.  136. 


82  PUBLIC  SPEAKING  ^  1 

H      .  ^'^ 

of  the  meanings  of  whi^h  you  are  so  certain,  that  no 

translation  is  necessary  J  One  has  but  to  reflect  on  his 
difficulties  in  getting  with  certainty  and  clearness  the 
thought  in  a  passage  from  a  foreign  tongue  in  which  he 
is  not  thoroughly  at  home,  to  appreciate  the  force  of  this 
advice. 

Dewey  goes  further  and  finds  that  the  limits  of  the 
concrete,  that  is,  the  familiar, — 

"are  fixed  mainly  by  the  demands  of  the  practical  life. 
Things  such  as  sticks  and  stones,  meiit  and  potatoes, 
houses  and  trees,  are  such  constant  features  of  the  environ- 
ment of  which  we  have  to  take  account  in  order  to  live, 
that    their    important   meanings    are    soon    learnt,    and 

indissolubly   associated   with   objects The 

necessities  of  social  intercourse  convey  to  adults  a  like 
concreteness   upon   such   terms  as  taxes,  elections,  wages, 

the  law,  and  so  on By  contrast,  the  abstract 

is  the  theoretical,  or  that  not  intimately  associated  '^dth 
practical  concerns.  The  abstract  thinker  .  .  .  de- 
liberately abstracts  from  application  in  life;    that  is,  he 

leaves  practical  uses  out  of  account When 

thinking  is  used  as  a  means  to  some  end,  good,  or  value 
beyond  itself,  it  is  concrete;  when  it  is  employed  simply 
as  a  means  to  more  thinking,  it  is  abstract.''  Education 
should  develop  the  capabilities,  possessed  by  every 
human  being,  to  think  in  both  ways.  "Nor  is  theoretical 
thinking  a  higher  type  of  thinking  than  practical.  A 
person  who  has  at  command  both  types  of  thinking  is  of  a 
higher  order  than  he  who  possesses  only  one." 

Here  again  is  food  for  thought.  INIost  of  us  under- 
stand truth  more  clearly  and  attend  to  it  more  easily 
when  we  see  its  practical  applications.  Think  concretely 
in  this  sense,  means :  Think  out  your  subjects  with  refer- 
ence to  their  practical  bearings;  think,  not  only  in  terms 
of  men  and  things  and  institutions,  but  also  in  terms  of 
their  aims,  uses  and  purposes. 

Imagination,  i  If  we  fill  our  minds  with  knowledge  of 
our  subject,  if  we  relate  this  to  experience,  if  we  think 


PRINCIPLES  OF  ATTENTION  83 

in  concrete  terms  and  emphasize  practical  applications, 
we  shall  fill  our  minds  with  image^.  This  tendency  of 
thought  to  take  the  form  of  images  is  to  be  encouraged  by 
the  speaker. 

Kinds  of  Imagery.  The  psychologist's  use  of  the  word 
ima^eF  Is  technical  and  covers  not  only  what  one  sees 
in  the  "mind's  eye;"  but  also  what  one  hears  in  the  mind's 
ear,  and  movements,  tastes,  smells,  touches  which  one 
^periences  in  imagination. \  When  there  comes  into 
mind  a  picture,  one  is  said  to  have  a  visual  image;  when 
one  hears  sounds  not  actual,  as  when  a  musician  hears  the 
music  of  the  score  he  is  reading,  one  has  an  auditory  imagei 

"I  call  up  a  former  experience  in  which  I  was  playing 
football,"  says  Professor  Scott;  '*.  .  .1  feel  in  imagi- 
nation the  straining  of  the  muscles  as  I  attempted  to 
push  against  the  line.  I  imagine  the  terrible  struggle, 
the  twisting,  straining  and  writhing  of  every  muscle, 
tendon  and  joint.  As  I  imagine  it,  I  find  the  state  is 
re-established  and  I  am  unconsciously  leaning  toward 
.the  goal  as  if  the  experience  were  a  present  one.  My 
\motor  imageryVyi  the  football  game  is  almost  as  distinct 
^as  the  motor  preception  of  moving  the  table.  .  .  . 
In  my  imagination  I  feel  a  fly  slowly  crawling  up  my 
nose — I  have  a  tactual  image  of  it —  and  the  image  is  so 
strong  that  I  have  to  stop  to  rub  my  nose.  I  ate  a  peach 
this  morning.  ...  As  I  think  of  how  it  tasted,  my 
mouth  waters — I  have  a  vivid  gustatory  image  of  the  peach. 
.  .  .  .  As  I  think  of  how  the  gas  factory  smelt 
yesterday  when  I  passed  it,  I  have  an  olfactory*  image 
of  the  gas.  .  .  .  As  I  think  of  how  it  felt  when  I 
stepped  on  a  rusty  nail,  I  have  a  mental  image  of  the  pain." 

tlndividuals  differ  with  regard  to  the  forn  s  of  iiragery,  which  pre- 
dominate in  their  consciousness,  and  they  differ  in  the  vividness  of  their 
imagery;  but  images  are  common  to  all.  The  majority  have  visual 
images  as  their  most  vivid  form  and  are  said  to  be  "eye-minded."  Others 
are  "ear-minded;"  while  others  are  more  strongly  motor.  The  other 
forms  of  images  are  usually  Jess  distinct.  Most  persons  are  of  mixed 
type  and  have,  in  varying  degrees  of  distinctness,  aH  or  several  of  the 
forms. 


84  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Mental  images  vary  from  those  faint  and  incomplete  to  those  so  vivid 
that  we  mistake  them  for  perceptions  coming  through  the  senses.  We 
think  we  see  Brown  on  the  street,  but  learn  he  is  out  of  town;  w^e  think 
we  hear  a  call  but  no  one  is  near;  we  think  the  bullet  pierced  our  flesh, 
but  the  surgeon  finds  only  a  hole  in  our  coat.  Blazac,  we  are  told, 
"could  produce,  in  his  own  body,  the  sharpest  pain  of  being  cut  with  a 
knife  by  imagining  himself  cut." 

Images  and  Imagination.  'JThe  term  imagination 
is  most  conveniently  used  as  a  name  for  the  sum  total 
of  the  mental  processes  that  express  themselves  in  our 
mental  imagery.  \  When  used  psychologically  the  word 
imagination  conveys  no  implication  that  the  mental 
imagery^  in  question  stands  for  unreal  or  fantastic  objects."^ 
We  have  here  at  once  an  authoritative  definition  and  the 
correction  of  a  mistaken  notion. 

The  Imaginative  and  the  Imaginary.  We  must  drive 
out  of  our  heads  once  for  all  the  mistaken  belief  that  in 
speaking  of  imagination  we  refer  to  the  fanciful.  It  is 
true  that  without  control  imagination  may  lead  us  far 
astray;  but  rightly  controlled,  "The  imaginative  is  not 
necessarily  the  imaginary.  .  .  .  The  proper  function 
of  imagination  is  vision  of  realities  which  cannot  be  exhi- 
bited under  existing  conditions."^  A  general  planning 
a  battle,  and  directing  it  over  a  field  a  hundred  miles 
in  extent;  a  war  correspondent  writing  his  dispatch, 
weaving  together  what  he  has  seen  and  what  he  has  been 
toM,  with  no  part  of  the  reality  before  him  as  he  WTites, 
the  historian  writing  the  authoritative  description  years 
after, — do  not  all  these  need  imagination  to  make  situa- 
tions real  and  true?  Imagination  is  also  the  foundation  of 
sympathy,   faith,   hope,   ambition. 


V'Th 

with  u 


he  imagination  is  not  a  process  of  thought  which  must  deal  chiefly 
unrealities  and  impossibilities,  and  which  has  for  its  chief  end  our 
amusement.  .  .  .  It  is  rather  a  commonplace  necessary  process, 
which  illumines  the  way  for  our  everyday  thinking  and  acting — a  process 
without  which  we  think  and  act  by  haphazard  chance  or  blind  imitation. 

^  Royce,  Outlines  of  Psychology,  p.  161.    -  Dewey,  How  We  Think,  p.  224. 


PRINCIPLES  OF  ATTENTION  85 

It  is  the  process  by  which  the  images  from  our  past  experiences  are  mar- 
shalled and  made  to  serve  our  present.  Imagination  looks  into  the 
future  and  constructs  our  patterns  and  lays  our  plans.  It  sets  up  our 
ideals  and  pictures  us  in  the  act  of  achieving  them./  It  enables  us  to 
live  our  joys  and  sorrows,  our  victories  and  defeatjs,  before  we  reach 
them.  It  looks  into  the  past  and  allows  us  to  live  with  the  kings  and 
seers  of  old,  or  it  goes  back  to  the  beginning  and  sees  things  in  the 
process  of  making.     It  comes  into  our  present  and  plays  a  part  in  every 

act  from  the  simplest  to  the  most  complex 

"  ...  Suppose  I  describe  to  you  the  seige  which  gave  Port 
Arthur  to  Japan.  Unless  you  can  take  the  images  which  my  words 
suggest  and  build  them  into  struggling,  shouting,  bleeding  soldiers; 
into  forts  and  entanglements  and  breastworks;  into  roaring  cannon 
and  whistling  bullet  and  screaming  shell — unless  you  can  take  all  these 
separate  images  and  out  of  them  get  one  great  unified  complex,  then  my 
description  will  be  to  you  only  so  many  words  largely  without  content, 
and  you  will  lack  the  power  to  comprehend  the  historical  event  in  any 
complete  way.  Unless  you  can  read  the  poem  and  out  of  the  images 
suggested  by  the  words  reconstruct  the  picture  which  was  in  the  mind 
of  the  author  as  he  wrote  'The  Village  Blacksmith'  or  'Snowbound,'  the 
significance  will  have  dropped  out,  and  the  throbbing  scenes  of  life 
and  action  become  only  so  many  dead  words,  like  the  shell  of  the  chrysalis 
after  the  butterfly  has  left  its  shroud.  .  .  .  Without  the  power 
to  reconstruct  [the  pictures]  as  you  read,  you  may  commit  the  words, 
and  be  able  to  recite  them,  and  to  pass  an  examination  upon  them,  but 
the  living  reality     .     .     will  forever  escape  you."^ 

Imagination  and  Attention.  The  first  reason  why  a 
speaker  should  encourage  the  tendency  of  his  thought 
to  take  the  form  of  images,  is  that| imagery  makes  a  strong 
demand  upon  attentioil  Imagery  makes  thought  more 
vivid,  because  more  Ufe-hke  and  objective;^  that  is, 
more  Hke  actual  experience  coming  to  us  through  our 
senses.  We  cannot  help  attending  to  strong  sensations; 
and  we  are  strongly  drawn  by  images  which  reproduce 
sensations  and  perceptions.  If  you  wished  to  interest 
a  boy  in  France,  you  would  take  him  there  if  possible. 
If  you  could  not  do  that,  you  would  try  to  make  him 
imagine  what  France  is  like,  its  scenery,  people,  art  and  life. 

Imagination  and  Clearness.  Whilel  chief  emphasis 
is  laid  upon  imagination  as  a  source  of  vividness,! we  see 
from  the  preceding  examples  that  f  imagery  makes  for 
clearness     of    thought    also.     "History,    literature,    and 

^BettSy  Mi7id  and  its  Education,  p.  128. 


86  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

geography,  nay,  even  geometry  and  arithmetic,  are  full 
of  matters  that  must  be  imaginatively  realized  if  they  are 
realized  at  all."^  The  mathematician  treating  of  solid 
forms,  the  physicist  considering  atoms  and  gravitation 
and  projecting  his  theories  and  laws  into  the  universe, 
and  the  biologist  evolving  theories  of  life,  must  have 
imagination.  Faraday  and  Darwin  are  ranked  among 
the  great  imaginative  minds  of  the  last  century.  Coming 
into  the  world  of  affairs,  the  inventor  constructing  a 
machine,  the  architect  working  over  elevations  and  the 
arrangement  of  rooms,  chimneys  and  stairways,  the 
statesman  seeking  to  grasp  the  situation  in  a  distant 
province,  or  to  forecast  the  effect  of  a  new  tariff  law,  the 
speaker  presenting  these  same  matters  to  an  audience, 
or  any  one  who  has  to  realize  an  object  or  situation,  past, 
present,  or  future,  not  actually  present  to  his  senses,  is 
dependent  upon  the  imagination,  "the  instrument  of 
reality."  "Unless  the  flagging  interest  of  the  common 
man,"  says  Ross,^  "be  stimulated  to  divine  the  multi- 
farious life  of  his  country,  his  will  be  no  fit  hands  to  hold 
the  reins." 

Imagina|tion  Productive  and  Reproductive.  We  find 
the]  terinis\ productive  and  reproductive  \used  as  distin- 
guishing, not  so  much  two  kinds,  as  ^wo  functions  of 
imagination,  i  (Productive  imagination  is  sometimes 
called  creative,  a  somewhat  too  pretentious  word,  as  we 
shall  see.)  As  the  preceding  examples  indicatei  imagina- 
tion reproduces  /past  experiences,  though  n^ver  with 
complete  fidelity .f  This  is  memory.  Again,  we  imagine 
things  or  events  we  have  not  experienced;  that  is,  we 
exercise  productive  imagination! 

Imagination  must  have  Material  with  which  to  Work. 
Productive  imagination  cannot  really  create  anything; 
it  can  only  present  new  combinations  of  already  familiar 

1  Dewey,  How  We  Think,  p.224.    ^Social  Control,  p.  259. 


f  RrNCIPLES  UP  ATTENTION  8T 

elements.  We  have  done  no  better  in  picturing  an  angel 
than  to  attach  wings  to  a  beautiful  human  being  and  our 
gods  are  always  glorified  men.  Almost  any  boy  has  his 
idea  of  what  a  battle  is  like;  but  it  is  made  up  from  his 
experiences  in  fist  and  snowball  fights  and  his  little 
knowledge  of  guns  and  cannons,  helped  out  by  pictures 
and  vivid  descriptions.  Since  the  most  brilliant  imagina- 
tion is  thus  limited  by  previous  experience,  it  follows 
that  to  imagine  vividly  and  accurately  a  scene,  a  situation, 
or  an  experience,  we  have  to  store  our  minds  with  an 
abundance  of  data  arising  from  accurate  observation 
and  wide  reading.  The  boy's  idea  of  a  battle  may  be  in 
many  ways  grotesque.  It  is  sure  to  be  unless  he  has 
added  study  to  his  small  experience.  So  a  statesman 
may  have  a  distorted  idea  of  affairs  in  the  Far  East. 

What  Imagination  can  do  with  Proper  Material. 
Equally  important  is  the  truth  that,  I  given  sufiicient 
facts,  imagination  can  use  them  to  build  conceptions 
both  vivid  and  true.j  Without  imagination  the  facts 
are  dead  stuff;  but  with- imagination  a  gifted  boy  can, 
by  adding  study  to  his  little  experience,  gain  such  a  true 
picture  of  a  battle  that  he  can  write  a  realistic  battle 
story.  He  may  be  able  to  feel  the  actual  sensations  of 
going  under  fire.^  So  too  the  statesman,  by  a  study  of 
the  materials  at  hand,  warmed  into  life  by  constructive 
imagination,  may  gain  a  view  of  the  situation  in  the  Far 
East  in  which  products,  peoples  and  armaments  fall  into 
proper  relations,  so  that  he  can  deal  justly  with  situations 
as  they  arise.  He  is  like  a  blindfolded  chess-player, 
only  his  game  is  vastly  more  complicated.  It  would 
be  much  easier,  of  course,  if  one  had  actual  observation 
and  experience  to  reproduce  directly;  but  it  is  rather 
rare  that  one  has  complete  first-hand  knowledge  of 
a  situation   with   which  one  has   to  deal,  or    of    which 

^  Read  Stephen  Crane's  Red  Badge  of  Courage. 


one  has  to  speak.  "The  image  thus  affords  us,"  says 
Angell/  "the  method  by  which  we  shake  off  the  shackles 
of  the  world  of  objects  immediately  present  to  sense, 
and  secure  the  freedom  to  overstep  the  limits  of  space 
and  time  as  our  fancy,  or  our  necessity,  may  dictate." 

Conclusion.  Everywhere  we  have  found  need  for  a 
tliorough  knowledge  of  the  subjects  we  wish  to  treat. 
We  find  that  this  knowledge  must  be  combined  with 
our  existing  store  and  all  worked  over  in  many  ways. 
Among  possi})le  ways,  we  emphasize  thinking  our  material 
out  in  concrete  terms,  and  building  it,  by  power  of  imagi- 
nation, into  the  forms  of  actual  things, — men,  situations 
and  events.  This  is  not  the  place,  of  course,  for  the 
systematic  treatment  of  these  topics.  I  have  simply 
emphasized  those  matters  which  experience  indicates 
as  needing  special  attention  in  our  work.  In  the  next 
chapter  we  shall  apply  the  principles  of  this  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  speaker  himself .  In  later  chapters  the  prin- 
ciples will  prove  of  value  with  reference  to  the  attention 
of  the  audience. 

1  Psychology,  p.  178. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  speaker's  ATTENTION  TO  HIS  TOPIC 

We  are  now  prepared  to  consider  more  fully  the  means 
of  fulfilling  the  requirement  that  a  speaker  should  have 
a  full  realization  of  the  content  of  his  words  as  he  utters 
them.  Since  he  must  also  attend  to  his  audience,  he 
cannot  absolutely  lose  himself  in  his  subject;  but  we  know 
that  the  danger  is  that  the  young  speaker  will  attend 
to  neither  ideas  nor  audiences,  and  will  speak  only  empty 
words.  jHe  should  seek,  tfeepefere,  so  to  develop  his 
theme  that  it  will  powerfully  command  his  attention. 
His  attention,  as  he  stands  on  the  platform,  will  depend 
not  merely  upon  his  will,  but  more  upon  his  preparation, 
the  abundance  of  his  material  and  his  handling  of  it. 
He  can  do  much  by  sheer  determination  to  attend,  by 
forming  the  habit  of  never  speaking  with  wandering 
attention;  but  more  than  will  power  is  needed. 

Topjcs  of  Interest.  When  feasible,  the  speaker  should 
choose  topics  of  interest  to  himself,"  as  well  as  to  his 
audience,  so  that  he  may  have  an  initial  interest  to  de- 
velop. \Here  we  touch  upon  one  of  the  most  common 
causes  of  poor  w  ork  in  public  speaking  classes :  the  speak- 
ers often  take  subjects,  not  because  they  are  interested, 
but  because  they  must  have  "something  to  talk  about." 
But  though  one  has  to  speak  upon  a  subject  that  does 
not  interest  him  at  the  outset  (and  there  may  be  good 
reasons  in  the  occasion,  the  expectation  of  the  audience, 
or  in  the  ultimate  purpose  of  the  speaker  himself),  even 
then  the  case  is  not  hopeless. 

Applications  of  the  Preceding  Chapter.  To  such  a 
case  as  that  just  mentioned  and  to  the  commoner  case 
of  an  interest  which  needs  deepening,  we  may  apply  the 


90  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

lessons  of  the  preceding  chapter.  The  appUcation  is 
so  aptly  made  by  a  student,  in  an  examination  paper 
written  at  the  end  of  a  brief  elementary  course,  that  I 
take  pleasure  in  quoting  him:^ 

"To  work  up  interest  in  any  subject  we  must  have 
more  than  a  superficial  knowledge  of  it.  It  is  the  person 
who  knows  nothing  about  things  who  is  not  interested 
in  them.  Suppose  a  person  has  never  studied  bridges: 
then  all  bridges  are  alike  to  him,  either  very  long,  or  very 
wide,  or  very  high,  and  beyond  that  he  is  not  interested. 
In  other  words,  his  interest  in  a  new  bridge  is  short- 
lived and  may  be  exhausted  by  looking  at  it  a  moment 
or  so.  But  to  one  who  has  made  a  study  of  their  every 
member,  every  unit  has  a  significance,  and  he  can  spend 
hours  inspecting  them,  if  anything  increasing  his  interest. 
Thus  it  is  with  a  topic  for  a  speech.  The  more  work 
done  upon  its  preparation  the  more  points  of  connecting 
interest  with  other  things  we  see;  and  the  minute  the 
mind  correlates  the  speech  with  other  things  in  our  own 
experiences  interest  becomes  quickened.  Whenever  we 
see  an  article  upon  the  subject,  or  a  like  subject,  we  jump 
to  read  it,  for  it  is  connected  with  something  we  already 
know  a  little  about." 

Let  us  suppose,  as  an  extreme  case,  that  you  are  as- 
signed to  speak  upon  Grecian  archaeology,  and  you  do 
not  know  even  what  the  term  means.  What  to  do? 
First,  you  proceed  to  find  out  w^hat  the  topic  means,  and 
by  applying  secondary  attention,  gain  some  information 
about  it.  You  discover  that  the  Greeks,  insteaxl  of  being 
mere  book  creatures,  actually  had  sports,  Olympic  games 
in  fact;  and  that  we  are  imitating  their  sports  to-day. 
Thus  a  connection  is  made  between  them  and  your  estab- 
lished interest  in  athletics.  Go  into  the  museum  of  casts 
and  look  at  the  Discus  Thrower  and  the  Wrestler;  study 
their  muscles  and  attitudes.  Following  this  line  of  study, 
you  may  become  interested  in  Greek  art.      Again,  you 

^Mr.  J.  C.  Ward   Jr.,  Sibley  CoUege,  1914. 


THE  SPEAKER'S   ATTENTION  91 

find  the  Greeks  were  a  military  people  and  fought  heroic 
battles  on  land  and  sea.  Now  you  have  at  least  two 
points  of  contact  which  would  make  the  Greeks  interest- 
ing even  to  a  twelve-year  old.  You  find,  furthermore, 
that  they  had  industries,  science,  engineers,  lawyers, 
doctors,  slaves.  Some  or  all  of  these,  and  many  other 
bits  of  information,  develop  in  you  more  and  more  inter- 
est, until  you  find  it  no  hardship  to  study  the  material 
remains  of  this  wonderful  people.  The  points  of  first 
contact  will  shed  their  interest  upon  related  points,  and 
gradually  interest  will  suffuse  the  entire  subject.  The 
new  and  novel  will  furnish  interest  by  comparison  and 
contrast  with  the  familiar.  There  will  be  ample  scope 
for  imagination  in  making  real  the  country,  the  people 
and  their  life. 

First  Stage  of  Preparation.  To  illustrate  more  in 
detail,  suppose  you  are  to  speak  upon  Lincoln,  and  that 
you  have  some  knowledge  of  and  interest  in  your  subject. 
First,  see  what  can  be  made  of  your  present  store.  If 
you  sit  down  and  frown  at  a  piece  of  paper,  you  are  not 
likely  to  accomplish  much  thinking.  You  must  do  some- 
thing with  your  material.  Apply  the  directions  of  Angell 
and  James:  "To  keep  a  thought  alive.  .  .  keep  turning 
it  over  and  over,  keep  doing  something  with  it";  "roll 
it  over  and  over  incessantly  and  consider  different  as- 
pects of  it  in  turn."  "xisk  questions  of  it;  examine  it 
from  all  sides."  Think  of  Lincoln  in  various  charac- 
ters,— as  a  boy  on  the  frontier,  as  laborer,  student, 
law>^er,  politician,  stump  speaker,  writer,  president. 
Ask  yourself  how  he  became  educated  with  such  meager 
opportunities,  the  secret  of  his  success  as  a  lawyer,  of 
his  hold  upon  the  people,  of  his  success  in  a  terrible 
crisis. 

In  asking  questions  and  considering  passibilities,  do  not  refuse  to 
consider  those  that  seem  futile;  they  may  lead  to  something. 


92  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

You  will  find  a  mechanical  device  ^  of  great  benefit  in  this  work:  write 
each  idea  on  a  separate  slip  of  paper  or  a  card.  First,  this  serves  to 
objectify  your  idea,  to  get  it  out  where  you  can  view  it  more  as  if  it 
were  another's.  The  very  process  of  writing  it  down  may  show  you  its 
futility,  or  make  it  bloom  into  a  better  idea.  Expression  both  clarifies 
and  develops.  In  the  second  place,  this  method  is  better  than  writing 
in  a  note  book,  because  of  greater  ease  of  arranging  and  rearranging 
until  the  fruitless  ideas  are  rejected  and  the  remainder  brought  into  a 
system  which  shows  their  relations. 

By  the  process  here  advised,  your  mind  is  aided  in 
"attending  to  the  various  phases  of  the  subject;"  and  as  a 
result  your  mastery  increases.  You  are  at  least  on  the 
trail  of  some  ideas  and  you  have  "got  the  subject  on  your 
mind."  You  have  a  beginning  on  that  important  matter, 
|an  analysis;  for  to  analyze  is  to  find  out  the  possible 
Topics  and  their  relations.  You  have  a  tentative  plan 
and  outline.  Furthermore,  this  stage  of  work  makes 
for  independence  and  originality  of  thought,  for  you 
start  with  an  individual  point  of  view.  It  may  be  you 
will  abandon  every  supposed  fact,  every  opinion,  every 
bit  of  analysis,  as  a  result  of  further  study;  still  you  will 
not  simply  "swallow  whole"  what  you  read,  but  will  use 
discrimination  and  judgment,  since  you  have  brought 
forth  from  the  recesses  of  your  subconscious  mind  some- 
thing for  a  basis  of  comparison.  You  will  also  save  time 
in  the  end;  for  knowing  what  you  have  and  what  you 
lack,  and  what  some  of  the  phases  of  the  subject  are, 
you  now  proceed  to  read  to  more  purpose,  looking  for 
definite  things,  rather  than  reading  hit  and  miss. 

A  common  cause  of  poor  speaking  is  the  omission  of 
this  stage  of  preparation. 

Second  Stage  of  Preparation:  (Reading  and  Convers- 
ing. I  1  Another  cause  of  poor  speaking  is  found  in  failure 
to  acquire  an  abundance  of  material.  |  You  should  now 
proceed   to    increase   your   information    about    Lincoln. 

^  Cf.  Wendell,  English  Composition,  pp.  165,  173,  211. 


THE  SPEAKER'S  ATTENTION  93 

This  you  will,  in  this  case,  gain  chiefly  by  reading.  In 
ideal  preparation  you  would  read  everything  obtainable. 
In  practice  you  should  read  as  much  as  time  and  oppor- 
tunity permit.  You  should  read  about  Lincoln  in  general, 
till  you  have  a  good  understanding  of  his  career  as  a  whole, 
in  order  that  you  may  not  get  and  give  a  distorted  view 
of  him.  Then  you  should  read  especially  upon  that 
phase  which  is  your  theme.  While  you  should  read  much, 
you  should  spend  more  time  in  thinking  of  what  you  read; 
— really  thinking,  not  mooning  over  your  book.  You 
should  be  assimilating  what  you  learn  to  what  j^ou  already 
have,  comparing,  rejecting  or  accepting,  as  judgment  dic- 
tates. /"Knit  each  new  thing  on  to  some  acquisition 
already  in  mind;''  for  example,  each  fact  you  learn  in 
regard  to  Lincoln's  attitude  toward  slavery  should  not  be 
left  isolated,  but  should  be  compared  with  what  you 
already  have  in  mind  on  that  topic,  confirming  or  correct- 
ing your  views.  Sift,  compare,  contrast,  bind  together. 
"To  think,"  says  Halleck,^  "is  to  compare  things  with  each 
other,  to  notice  wherein  they  agree  and  differ,  and  to 
classify  them  according  to  those  agreements  and  dif- 
ferences." You  need  not  only  information,  but  informa- 
tion analyzed  and  synthesized  into  order. 

But  reading  is  not  the  only  way  to  gain  facts  and  the 
stimulation  of  comparing  your  own  ideas  with  those  of 
others.  Talk  with  those  who  know.  What  could  be 
more  helpful,  in  preparing  our  imagined  speech,  than  to 
talk  with  a  man  who  actually  knew  Lincoln?  Par- 
ticularly would  such  a  conversation  bring  Lincoln  home 
to  you  as  a  real  person.  But  talk  also  with  people  who 
do  not  know  much  of  your  subject,  with  many  kinds  of 
people.  They  will  suggest  new  ideas  to  you;  and  in 
particular  show  you  how  your  audience  is  likely  to  take 
your   speech    and   what   the    difliculties    are.     It    helps, 

^  Psychology  and  Physic  Culture,  p.  180. 


94  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

some  speakers   in  preparing  a  speech  to  talk  to  them- 
selves. 

In  all  this  work,  and  in  that  which  follows,  notes  should  be  taken  on 
slips  or  cards,  and  the  new  cards  arranged  with  the  old  until  the  best 
order  is  found  and  the  main  heads  stand  out. 

Third  Stage:  Working  the  Material.  The  work  now 
to  be  discussed  should  not  be  held  back  till  all  suggested 
above  has  been  done;  it  simply  should  be  more  empha- 
sized after  the  materials  are  gained.  Now  make  sure  that 
your  thought  of  your  subject  is  concrete.  In  treating 
of  a  man,  your  thinking  will  tend  to  concreteness ;  yet 
there  may  be  much  in  what  you  have  read  on  Lincoln 
that  needs  to  be  brought  to  the  touchstone  of  real'ty, 
especially  the  "glittering  generalities"  in  eulogistic  utter- 
ances. What  comes  to  you  in  unfamiliar  terminology'- 
and  method  of  thought,  reduce  to  familiar  terms.  Com- 
pare Lincoln's  experiences  mth  familiar  experiences  and 
his  traits  with  those  you  observe  in  others.  Think  of 
him  going  about  the  homely  duties  of  life,  in  common- 
place situations;  do  not  get  a  theatrical  view  of  him,  or 
imagine  him  always  at  the  storm  center  of  a  crisis.  Thi|jd> 
of  him  in  practical  terms;  for  instance,  ask  yourself 
how  Lincoln,  with  his  characteristics  as  man,  la\\^'^er, 
or  president,  would  act  to-day.  Would  he  be  a  corpora- 
tion lawyer?  A  "standpatter"  or  a  liberal?  What  sug- 
gestions, practical  for  young  men  with  regard  to  educa- 
tion, can  be  drawn  from  his  life? 

Do  you  think  these  suggestions  unnecessary?  I  well  remember  the 
flat  failure  of  a  college  senior  in  preparing  a  speech  on  Lincoln.^a  speech 
he  very  much  wanted  to  make  good.  He  could  not  "get  going."  He 
failed  simply  because  he  did  not  know  how  to  work  and  did  not  begin 
by  saturating  himself  with  Lincoln  and  mulling  over  the  material. 
He  was  not  unique  in  his  method  and  failure. 

Imagination  in  Preparation.  /  Throughout  the  prepara-  . 
tion,  but  increasingly  as  you  proceed,  utilize  imagination,    j 


THE  SPEAKER'S  ATTENTION  9,5 

"the  instrument  of  reality."  |See  in  your  mind's  eye  the 
persons,  things,  acts,  and  conditions  vnWi  which  you  deal.  / 
I  mean  in  a  very  definite  way.  If  you  are  trying  to  under- 
stand a  person,  vizualize  him  as  clearly  as  you  can; 
not  as  a  mere  homo,  but  as  tall,  sandy-haired,  ruddy 
complexioned,  wearing  a  sack  suit,  etc.  And  j^ou  should 
acquire  the  needed  information  for  imagination  to  work 
upon.  iVlso,  you  must  give  imagination  time  to  work. 
Encourage  sound  images,  if  sound  has  a  part  in  the 
reality  you  are  considering, — as  in  treating  of  a  battle. 
Give  free  rein  to  your  motor  imagery.  Sometimes  you 
can  best  realize  a  situation  by  imaginatively  putting 
yourself  into  it,  taking  part  in  its  action  and  conversa- 
tions. Sometimes  a  single  image  will  suffice;  again  you 
will  be  helped  by  elaborating  a  situation  in  detail,  even 
working  out  a  sort  of  drama.  Sometimes  it  is  important 
that  the  imagery  be  as  true  as  possible  to  fact,  as  when  an 
engineer  is  striving  to  make  clear  to  himself  and  to  his 
audience  of  capitalists,  the  situation  of  a  proposed  water 
power;  but  more  often  it  is  sufficient  that  j imagination 
build  forms  approxim^|:ely  and  essentially  true  to  reality, 
true  in  impression./  In  no  case  should  imagination 
be  permitted  to  produce  what  is  essentially  untrue.- 

To  be  more  concrete  and  specific,  let  us  return  again  to 
your  speech  on  Lincoln.  You  will  readily  find  numerous 
pictures  and  descriptions  from  which  you  can  construct 
his  appearance.  There  is  also  a  wealth  of  anecdote 
about  Lincoln,  touching  every  phase  of  his  life,  the  most 
ordinary  features  as  well  as  the  most  important ;  and  these 
will  enable  you  to  know  the  man.  And  you  must  know 
him  as  a  man  in  order  to  understand  him  as  an  orator  or 
as  a  statesman.  You  can  come  to  know  how  he  acted, 
how  he  talked,  the  changes  of  his  countenance  from  mirth 
to  sorrow;  to  know  him,  in  short,  so  that  were  it  possible 
for  you  to  meet  him  in  the  flesh,  you  would  feel  like  saying, 


96  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

"Good  morning,  Mr.  Lincoln!"  Let  us  have  no  mistake 
about  this:  I  do  not  mean  that  you  should  merely  know 
certain  facts  about  Lincoln,  but  that  so  far  as  your  peculiar 
mentality  ])ermits,  you  should  realize  Lincoln;  not 
merely  know  that  his  face  would  change  from  mirth  as 
he  told  a  story  to  sadness  as  he  felt  again  the  burden  of  the 
war,    but  see  the  change  take  place. 

I  have  emphasized  getting  acquainted  with  Lincoln, 
because  the  personal  aspect  is  most  liable  to  be  neglected 
by  the  beginner.  You  will,  of  course,  try  to  realize  the 
great  situations  in  which  Lincoln  was  placed.  Suppose 
you  are  studying  him  as  a  speaker:  after  you  have  some 
knowledge  of  his  career  as  a  whole  and  have  acquired 
personal  acquaintance  with  the  man,  you  may  take  up 
the  data  relating  to  his  early  speeches.  You  may  see 
him  making  speeches  on  a  literal  stump,  while  the  other 
hands  hoe  the  corn;  you  may  hear  him  at  the  village 
store,  telling  stories,  arguing  politics,  and  gaining 
something  of  his  later  power  to  hold  attention,  to  make 
clear  arguments  and  to  expose  fallacies.  You  may  see 
him  pouring  over  scanty  documents  of  American  history; 
and  later  arguing  with  consummate  logic  and  eminent 
fairness  in  the  courts.  If  you  are  giving  special  atten- 
tion to  the  Lincoln-Douglas  debates,  you  cannot  under- 
stand these  or  feel  their  significance  unless  you  first  under- 
stand and  feel  the  situation  in  state  and  nation  into 
which  they  fitted.  You  will  wish  also  to  realize  the 
immediate  settings  of  those  debates.  See  the  places  in 
which  he  spoke,  take  your  place  upon  the  platforms,  gay 
with  flags;  look  over  the  groves,  the  people  who  come  driv- 
ing ten  and  twenty  miles  in  farm  wagons,  frontiersmen 
and  children  of  frontiersmen,  making  a  holiday,  but  yet 
serious  in  their  reahzation  of  the  crisis,  thinking  men  and 
women  who  can  rise  to  the  high  level  of  argument  to  which 
Lincoln  calls  them. 


THE  SPEAKER'S  ATTENTION  97 

I  cannot  carry  this  farther  without  taking  undue  space.  The  events 
can  be  found  vividly  pictured  for  us  by  biographers  and  in  historical 
fiction/  You  may  study  the  First  Inaugural  Address,  the  Gettysburg 
Address,  the  Second  Inaugural  and  Lincoln's  other  speeches  as  you  have 
the  debates. 

You  will  see  that  in  all  this  work  you  will  need  facts 
and  more  facts;  but  quite  as  much,  judgment  and  imagi- 
nation to  enable  you  to  get  at  the  truth  and  to  realize 
the  truth  about  Lincoln.  With  such  study  as  is  sug- 
gested you  can  develop  such  a  conception  that  you  vnW 
be  able  to  speak  Lincoln  with  a  verity  and  a  personal  in- 
terest that  will  go  far  toward  putting  you  on  an  equality 
■jjvith  those  who  knew  Lincoln  face  to  face, 
vy  Preparing  a  More  Abstract  Subject.  If  one  is  speaking 
on  such  a  subject  as  arbitration,  the  teachings  of  this 
chapter  are  still  more  needed.  The  young  speaker  is 
prone  to  deal  "VN-ith  such  subjects  with  todhttle  basis  in 
concrete  facts;  and  consequently  too  shallow  under- 
standing and  interest.  Having  but  a  second-hand  enthu- 
siasm for  arbitration,  or  worse,  a  mere  hope  that  the  topic 
"^dll  do  for  a  speech,  with  scanty  data  drawn  from  a  shoddy 
magazine  article,  he  makes  but  a  conventional,  and 
probably  a  muddy  speech.  A  man  of  large  knowledge  of 
history  and  long  diplomatic  experience,  like  Andrew  D. 
White,  will  find  little  trouble  in  fixing  his  mind  on  arbitra- 
tion. For  such  a  one  there  are  so  many  phases,  relations, 
applications,  so  many  men  who  have  advocated  or  con- 
demned, Hague  conferences,  signs  of  the  times, — such  a 
wealth  of  thought  material  that  the  topic  is  likely  to  tyran- 
nize over  attention.  The  young  speaker  has  no  such 
advantage;  but  by  proper  handling  of  the  material 
which  he  can  find,  he  can  change  arbitration  from  an 

^  See,  for  example,  Churchill's  novel,  The  Crisis:  Herndon  gives  an 
intimate  view  of  Lincoln,  his  law  partner,  but  is  not  always  reliable. 
For  a  basis  of  study  take  the  large  work  of  Nicolay  and  Hay.  You  may 
well  read  also  general  histories  of  Lincoln's  time  and  the  lives  of  his 
contemporaries  in  order  to  correct  the  views  gained  from  his  partisans. 


98  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

uncertain  object  of  attention,  drifting  for  lack  of  mooring 
in  his  mind,  into  a  strong,  clear  concept. 

Again,  he  should  make  his  preliminary  analysis  of  the 
subject,  his  search  for  information  and  the  opinions  of 
others,  and  sift,  compare  and  relate,  until  he  has  a  well 
organized  body  of  experience  and  clear  ideas.  Again, 
he  should  link  his  new  ideas  to  his  established  interests, 
in  politics,  in  economics,  in  social  science,  in  morals, 
in  religion;  and  in  these  fields  to  his  special  interests, 
as  in  eugenics.  And  again  he  should  transmute  the  life- 
less data  into  living  forms.  By  true  imagination  he  should 
realize  the  effects  of  war,  upon  the  battlefield,  in  the 
homes  of  the  people,  in  exhaustion  of  resources,  and  in 
deterioration  of  character;  and  no  less  should  he  realize 
the  working  of  his  proposed  plan.  Given  this  sort  of 
preparation,  carried  out  in  sufficient  detail,  a  young  man 
can  earn  the  right  to  speak;  and  he  will  speak  with 
neither  listlessness  nor  declamation,  but  with  grasp  and 
sincerity. 

I  take  pleasure  in  inserting  here  another  paragraph  from  the  examina- 
tion paper  quoted  before  in  this  chapter.  We  may  note  that  the  writer 
has  in  mind  a  considerable  knowledge  of  the  pyramids,  that  this  knowl- 
edge has  been  linked  to  his  dominant  interest,  engineering,  and  that  his 
imagination  has  done  what  he  says  it  should  do. 

"Suppose  we  were  making  a  speech  on  the  Construction  of  the 
Pyramids  of  Egypt.  .  .  We  may  never  have  even  seen  them.  How- 
ever, if  we  bring  imagination  into  play,  we  can  picture  the  vast  armies 
who  built  them,  the  huge,  cumbersome  carts  used  in  carrying  the  stones, 
the  hundreds  of  sweating,  babbling  slaves  who  were  made  to  haul  them, 
the  harsh  overseers  who  drove  the  slaves  on  to  work,  the  inclined  planes 
up  which  the  stones  were  dragged  by  sheer  might;  and  in  time  we  could 
make  the  whole  scene  be  so  real  to  us  that  we  could  almost  imagine 
ourselves  to  be  the  designers  and  engineers.  In  this  way  the  subject 
would  be  made  alive  to  us,  and  when  we  talked  it  would  be  with  the 
conviction  that  we  were  talking  on  sometJiing  ire  kneic  about  from  our 
oun  experience,  and  not  something  taken  out  of  a  few  dusty  old  books 
and  here  merely  something  to  talk  about." 

Expression  During  Preparation.  In  working  over  your 
material,  a  method  you  will  natually  employ  to  some 
extent  is  to  be  encouraged, — that  of  talking  and  writing 


THE  SPEAKER'S  ATTENTION  99 

on  the  subject.  Write  out  your  ideas  quite  regardless 
of  the  final  form  they  are  to  take.  If  you  write  from 
several  different  angles  at  different  times,  so  much  the 
better.  As  you  learn  a  forest  by  going  through  it  in 
many  directions,  so  you  may  learn  a  subject.  To  change 
the  figure,  make  many  different  cross  sections.  Some 
will  find  talking  the  subject  through  to  the  imagined 
audience  better  than  writing.  The  disadvantage  of 
talking  is  that  it  is  likely  to  be  less  clear  and  orderly 
than  writing.  On  the  other  hand,  talking  helps  one  more 
to  feel  the  audience  in  advance;  and  also  the  talks  are 
not  preserved.  The  early  written  drafts  ought  to  be 
put  resolutely  in  the  fire. 

Work  not  Wasted.     It  matters  not  that  much  you  have 


learned  and  thought  out  cannot  be  used  in  your  speech;' 
no  truth  learned  need  be  considered  useless,  though  some 
truths  are  more  important  than  others  and  more  perti- 
nent to  your  purpose.  All  go  to  build  up  the  concept 
in  3^our  mind.  You  gain  in  mastery  as  well  as  in  interest, 
and  become  able  to  speak  with  a*clearness,  a  sense  of 
proportion,  a  discrimination,  and  an  earnestness  which 
constitutes  the  charm  of  a  speaker  who  is  *'full  of  his 
subject,"  as  contrasted  with  one  of  shallow  knowledge.) 
We  cannot  always  explain  an  impression,  which  neverthe- 
less grows  upon  us  as  we  listen,  that  a  speaker  has  noth- 
ing back  of  what  he  says,  that  he  has  exhausted  his 
fund. 

"That  man,"  said  a  keen  student  of  a  young  lecturer,  "seems  to  me  to 
pump  himself  dry  every  day;  he  has  to  fill  up  again  over  night."  In 
contrast,  I  have  a  friend  who,  when  he  talks  of  medieval  history,  seems 
to  be  quite  as  much  at  home  as  in  this  present  age;  and  he  speaks  of 
historical  characters  as  of  intimates  of  whom  he  might  tell  us  no  end  of 
good  stories.     He  makes  even  an  ignoramus  interested. 

A  Princeton  graduate  tells  of  a  lecture  in  which  Professor  Woodrow 
Wilson  was  saying  to  his  class  that  Gladstone  could  make  any  subject 
of  interest,  even  a  four-hour  speech  on  the  "budget."     "Young  men," 


100  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

exclaimed  the  professor,  "It  is  not  the  subject  that  is  dry;  it  is  you  that 
are  dry!"  Not  unrelated  to  Gladstone's  power  of  interesting  audiences 
are  the  facts  that  he  had  wonderful  stores  of  knowledge  on  a  great  diver- 
sity of  subjects,  and  that  he  had  also  a  remarkable  ability  in  "getting 
up"  a  special  topic. 

We  all  like  to  hear  the  speaker  who  has  kno\Mi  the  hero 
he  eulogizes,  or  has  been  through  the  experience  he 
describes,  or  has  fought  for  the  cause  he  advocates; 
because,  as  we  say,  "his  subject  means  something  to 
him."  There  is  a  sense  of  reahty  and  a  ring  of  earnest- 
ness rather  than  forced  interest.  It  is  in  experience 
that  the  older  speaker  has  an  advantage  over  the  younger, 
whose  flashy  enthusiasm  is  much  less  impressive  than  the 
quieter  words  of  the  veteran.  This  advantage  cannot 
be  entirely  overcome;  but /the  man  who  knows  and  who 
is  in  earnest  will  be  listened  to  whatever  his  age.] 

^jive  Time  to  your  Work:  Begin  Early.  \  "The  longer 
one  does  attend  to  a  topic,  the  more  mastery  of  it  one  has." 
We  have  considered  at  length  the  means  of  prolonging 
and  developing  attention.  It  remains  to  be  said  that  not 
only  the  time  spent  in  actual  work  counts,  but  also  the 
mere  length  of  time  you  carry  your  topic  in  mind.  Select 
your  topic  as  early  as  possible  and  give  it  time  to  "bud 
and  sprout  and  grow,"  time  for  the  relationships  to  clear 
up,  and  for  the  processes  of  assimilation  to  complete 
themselves;  give  time  for  the  "unconscious  cerebration," 
or  in  homely  phrase,  for  the  matter  to  "soak  in;"  and 
especially  give  time  for  imagination  to  work. 

We  may  appropriate  what  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes-makes  the  Autocrat 
say^  of  conversation:  "Talk  about  those  subjects  you  have  had  long 
in  your  mind.  ^  .  Knowledge  and  timber  shouldn't  be  used  till  they 
are  seasoned."  jWhen  you  have  put  an  idea  in  your  mind  and  return 
to  it  after  an  interval,  "you  do  not  find  it  as  it  was  when  acquired. 
It  has  domiciliated  itself,  so  to  speak, — become  at  home, — entered  into 
relations  with  your  otiier  thoughts,  and  integrated  itself  with  the  whole 
fabric  of  the  mind."   / 

*  The  Avlocrai  at  the  Breakfast  Table,  p.  138. 


THE  SPEAKER'S  ATTENTION  101 

There  is  another  good  reason  for  starting  early  in  the 
fact  that  once  we  have  set  our  minds  for  a  certain  topic, 
materials  and  ideas  seem  to  flow  to  us  from  every  direc- 
tion. They  existed  all  about  us  before,  of  course,  but 
we  did  not  notice  them.  We  find  articles  and  books  on 
the  subject  when  we  are  looking  for  other  matter,  and 
from  the  commonest  experience  we  may  draw  a  valuable 
illustration.  /  Good  illustrations  are  highly  important 
in  speech-making  and  exceedingly  hard  to  find  when 
wanted!  Other  materials  we  usually  can  find  by  sys- 
tematic search,  but  the  right  illustration  may  elude  us. 
If  we  discover  early  what  sort  of  illustrations  we  need, 
we  have  a  better  chance  to  find  them  by  good  luck. 

We  should  begin  early,  also,  that  we  may  the  better 
criticise  our  own  work.  We  all  know  that  after  struggling 
over  a  piece  of  composition,  or  other  constructive  work, 
we  are  not  immediately  in  a  position  to  judge  it.  Put 
it  aside  for  a  time,  and  we  are  better  able  to  "size  it  up.** 
And  we  shall  find  that  it  is  with  extreme  diflSculty  that 
we  get  any  genuine  criticism  except  our  own. 

Failure  to  begin  speeches  early  is  one  of  the  commonest 
causes  of  poor  speaking,  especially  in  class  work.  Stu- 
dents often  feel  that  it  is  all  the  same  if  they  put  in  the 
due  amount  of  wx>rk  in  a  hurry  as  late  as  possible;  but 
they  deceive  themselves.  In  the  hastily  prepared  speech 
there  is  lack  of  assimilation,  of  clear  order,  of  sureness  of 
touch,  of  the  sense  of  reality.  Moreover,  the  speaker 
who  has  hurried  his  work  at  the  end  will  be  nervous,  and 
will  lack  good  control  of  his  thoughts.  Whatever  amount 
of  time  you  have  for  the  preparation  of  a  speech,  use  part 
of  that  time  as  early  as  possible.  You  will  get  a  better 
return  on  the  time  and  energy  spent. 

These  Teachings  are  Practical.  *'But,"  demands  a 
voice,  "how  much  time  do  you  think  we  can  give  to  the 
preparation  of  a  short  speech?     We  have  something  else 


10^  PrBIiC  SPEAKING 

to  do!"  I  beg  your  pardon;  I  thought  you  wished  to 
make  a  good  speech,  the  best  you  are  capable  of.  Of 
course,  those  who  wish  to  learn  how  to  make  a  speech 
with  nothing  to  say,  have  no  use  for  the  doctrines  of  this 
chapter.  I  have  been  speaking  of  thorough-going  prepa- 
ration. It  is  true  that  such  preparation  may  take  a 
long  time.  When  great  speeches  have  been  made  with 
apparently  little  preparation,  as  in  the  classic  instance 
of  Webster's  Reply  to  Hayne,  they  have  really  sprung 
from  years  of  study,  discussion  and  experience,  in  which 
materials  have  been  amassed.  "Young  man,"  Webster 
is  reported  to  have  said  to  a  conceited  youth,  "there  is 
no  such  thing  as  extemporaneous  acquisition."  Not 
only  have  materials  been  amassed,  but,  what  is  quite 
as  important  for  the  purpose,  they  have  been  formulated 
over  and  over  again,  and  in  different  ways. 

Grady,  we  are  told,  rose  to  make  his  speech  on  the  New  South,  which 
gave  him  fame  in  a  night,  without  knowing  what  he  would  say.  In  the 
first  place,  one  simply  does  not  believe  Grady  so  foolish  as  to  come  to 
this  important  event  without  careful  thought  of  matter,  arrangement 
and  form  of  expression.  He  probably  left  until  the  occasion  decisions 
in  regard  to  which  of  certain  points  and  illustrations  were  best  suited 
to  the  spirit  of  the  hour,  how  serious  he  might  be,  how  strong  and  open 
his  appeal;  it  may  be  that  with  his  experience  he  trusted  in  part  to  the 
moment  for  the  phrasing  of  his  thoughts.  But  as  to  what  he  wished  to 
do  and  what  means  he  had  to  use,  he  was  no  doubt  clear  in  advance. 
In  the  second  place,  Grady  had  been  thinking,  writing  and  speaking 
on  his  subject  all  his  life.  It  was  the  one  topic  to  dominate  the  thought 
of  a  man  of  his  temperament  and  generation  in  the  South.  His  position 
as  editor  of  an  influential  Southern  daily  also  kept  him  discussing  this 
theme. 

It  is  true  that  speakers  unprepared  may  sometimes 
have  brilliant  inspirations,  just  as  one  may  sometimes  find 
gold  when  only  out  for  a  walk;  but  usually  inspirations 
come  to  those  who  make  ready  for  them.  They  are  the 
product  of  preparation.  We  find  on  investigation  that 
most  of  the  stories  of  unprepared  successes  are  apocryphal. 


THE  SPEAKER'S  ATTENTION  103 

They  are  like  the  stories  of  the  brilKant  passing  of  exami- 
nations without  preparation.  The  thing  is  done;  but 
nine  stories  out  of  ten  are,  not  to  be  harsh,  brag,  and  the 
other  case  is  not  a  safe  precedent  for  the  average 
student. 

Granted  that  the  foregoing  suggestions  cannot  be  car- 
ried out  ideally  in  all  cases,  still  it  is  better  to  know  what 
can  be  done,  in  order  that  we  may  work  wisely  and  not 
fail  to  work  for  lack  of  knowledge  of  something  to  do. 
After  all,  much  can  be  done  even  in  a  short  time,  by 
working  on  the  right  lines.  We  may  not  be  able  to  be- 
come specialists  on  all  our  themes,  though  that  would  be 
desirable;  yet  we  may  approach  the  specialist  in  having 
a  considerable  body  of  knowledge  and  in  having  this 
well  analyzed  and  synthesized.  We  should  note,  too, 
that  it  is  better  to  make  a  few  good  speeches  than  many 
poor  ones.  If  we  cannot  have  some  degree  of  mastery 
of  our  topics,  we  had  better  keep  still. 

There  are  several  encouraging  features.  In  the  first 
place,  the  class  of  speakers  for  w^hom  this  book  is  written, 
having  lived  a  considerable  number  of  years,  should  not 
be  entirely  empty-headed  or  without  experience.  They 
should  begin  with  their  established  interests,  the  things 
they  know  about.  To  return  to  Lincoln,  Americans  of 
college  age  should  know  a  good  deal  of  American  history, 
should  understand  something  of  the  great  struggle  between 
the  North  and  the  South,  and  they  should  know  a  good 
deal  about  Lincoln.  So  they  should  have  a  pretty  good 
foundation  to  build  upon.  Unfortunately  many  college 
students  have  very  little  historical  knowledge;  but  there 
are  thousands  of  good  subjects,  and  many  of  these  are 
very  close  to  the  interests  of  young  men.  Generally 
the  topic  one  does  know  about  and  is  interested  in,  or 
some  offshoot  of  it,  will  serve  for  a  speech.  (See  chap- 
ter on  Selecting  the  Subject.) 


104  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

But  even  if  one  must  take  a  theme  for  which  he  has 
little  foundation,  still  the  case  is  not  hopeless.  One  should 
in  any  case  choose  a  subject  worth  thorough  study  for 
its  own  sake,  and  thus  secure  a  double  return  for  the 
work  done.  This  does  not  mean  the  subject  must  have 
to  do  with  the  foundations  of  the  earth;  but  still  it  should 
be  something  one  will  be  glad  to  know  about  later. 

Another  encouraging  circumstance  is  that  not  every 
speech  need  be  made  in  a  new  field.  x\ny  subject  has 
many  phases,  any  one  of  which  is  likely  to  prove  more 
than  sufiicient  for  a  speech,  provided  the  speaker  is  well 
informed.  The  desire  to  range  superficially  all  over  a 
large  subject  is  evidence  of  ignorance.  Having  spoken  on 
one  phase  of  a  subject,  next  time  the  speaker  may  take 
another  phase  of  the  same  subject,  and  he  will  find  that 
the  previous  study  proves  helpful.  Knowledge,  mastery 
and  interest  will  grow;  the  speeches  will  be  better  and  the 
incidental  culture  greater  than  if  one  touches  superficially 
many  fields.  This  presumes,  of  course,  that  the  speaker 
will  make  real  progress  each  time  he  speaks,  and  not  go 
on  repeating  on  the  basis  of  his  first  preparation.  A  man 
may  do  a  great  deal  of  speaking  throughout  a  long  career, 
without  tiresome  repetition,  yet  use  but  few  themes  and 
those  related.  Nearly  all  that  Webster  said  in  his  many 
speeches,  if  we  accept  those  incidental  to  his  law  practice 
and  the  routine  business  of  the  Senate,  and  including 
much  in  those,  could  be  grouped  around  one  theme, 
The  Constitution.  A  man  gains  more  reputation  and 
produces  more  effect  by  limiting  his  range. 

On  the  Platform.  So  f  ir  \\e  have  dealt  TNath  prepar  - 
tion,  though  the  effect  upon  delivery  his  been  one  A  the 
objects  in  view.  When  preparation  is  right,  the  prospect 
for  good  delivery  is  encouraging.  It  has  become  possible, 
even  probable.  It  is  nearly  always  true  in  speaking  that, 
in  the  phrase  quoted  from  Helmholtz,  "other  powerful 


THE  SPEAKER'S  ATTENTION  105 

impressions  are  attracting  us  away."  JThe  clearer  our 
understanding  and  the  stronger  the  hold  of  our  ideas  on 
our  attention,  the  easier  it  is  to  think  on  our  feet  and  to 
speak  our  words  with  full  and  definite  "consciousness  of 
meaning."/  Stage  fright  is  far  less  likely  to  attack  one 
whose  thdught  is  clear  and  vivid  and  based  upon  ample 
foundations.  While  the  preparation  urged  in  this  chapter 
does  not  insure  "talking  with  the  audience,"  yet  a  well 
developed  interest  and  the  feeling  of  having  something 
to  say,  are  likely  to  create  a  strong  desire  to  reach  one's 
hearers. 

Imagery  during  Delivery,  Just  how  much  imagery 
there  should  be  in  a  speaker's  mind  during  delivery,  no 
one  can  say;  but  we  can  say  that,  w^hile  imagery  should 
not  be  forced,  it  should  be  encouraged  for  the  sake  of 
added  vividness.  If  the  sentences  deal  with  objective 
realities,  persons,  objects,  events,  then  a  great  deal 
of  imagery  should  be  present;  for  one  can  surely  describe 
better  to  others  what  he  himself  images.  Moreover,  ab- 
stractions can  be  translated  into  concrete  forms,  and  this 
translation  is  often  needed.  Such  a  sentence  as  this 
from  Carlyle  (See  selection  at  end  of  Chapter  IX  entitled 
Await  the  Issue),  "One  strong  thing  I  find  here  below, 
the  just  thing,  the  true  thing,"  may  need  some  image 
like  that  of  a  rock  defying  the  sea,  in  order  that  the  speaker 
may  get  the  feeling  of  assured  strength  that  the  sentence 
contains, — the  same  effect  we  get  from  an  expressed 
metaphor.  Imagery  enhances  feeling.  Of  course,  much 
that  has  come  into  mind  during  preparation  must  drop 
out,  having  served  its  purpose  of  putting  meaning  and 
feeling  into  our  ideas  and  words.  /There  should  be  no 
attempt  to  force  the  mind  as  one  speaks  to  form  some 
particular  image,  unless  for  the  purpose  of  accurate 
description.  The  mind  should  be  left  as  free  as  circum- 
stances permit;  /but  if  in  preparation  the  "thought  move- 


106  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

ment"  has  been  gone  through  repeatedly,  with  appro- 
priate and  helpful  imagery  encouraged  and  inappropriate 
and  distracting  imagery  inhibited,  imagination  will  tend 
to  be  helpfully  active  during  delivery,  especially  if  the 
speaker  is  duly  deliberate.  In  practice  speaking  before 
public  appearance,  one  may  well  definitely  strive  for  the 
forhiation  of  distinct  and  appropriate  mental  imagery. 
Staleness.  When  one  has  to  repeat  a  speech  several 
times,  he  should  find  it  growing  in  interest  and  improv- 
ing in  expression.  This  will  be  true  if  his  knowledge 
grows  and  his  thinking  continues.  But  if  one  does  find 
himself  stale,  the  best  way  to  freshen  interest  is  to  repeat 
the  steps  of  the  original  preparation,  going  over  the 
data,  the  analyses,  the  concrete  situations,  utilizing 
imagination;  and  also  finding  new  data,  new  illustra- 
tions, new  applications,  combining  the  new  with  the  old 
and  doing  more  thinking.  Very  easily  this  could  be  done 
to-day  with  speeches  on  peace  and  war.  Often  it  is 
best  to  prepare  a  new  speech,  approaching  the  subject 
from  a  new  angle,  and  thus  avoiding  the  dangers  of  new 
wine  in  old  bottles  and  new  patches  on  old  cloth.  The 
process  will  compel  fresh  thinking,  and  that  is  what  is 
needed. 

Often  a  student  in  preparing  for  a  speaking  contest  begins  to  lose 
interest  in  his  speech.  He  is  sure  to  do  so  if  his  preparation  has  not 
been  genuine,  if  it  has  been  too  much  a  matter  of  form  and  is  not  based 
on  conviction.  JThe  standard  prescription  is:  Go  fill  yourself  with  the 
subject;  read  about  it,  talk  about  it  with  those  who  know;  forget  your 
speech  and  ponder  your  subject  until  you  really  want  to  speak  because 
you  have  a  message/  If  the  speech  will  not  bear  this  treatment,  or  if  the 
student  is  not  capable  of  following  the  advice,  his  case  is  hopeless; 
though  he  may  make  a  very  pretty  speech. 

Conclusion.  In  this  and  in  the  preceding  chapter 
I  have  put  great  stress  upon  a  truism, — that  a  speaker 
should  have  a  mastery  of  his  subject  before  he  speaks. 
Perhaps  as  an  abstract  proposition,  few  would  question 


THE  SPEAKER'S  ATTENTION  107 

this  truth;  but  practically  the  need  for  emphasis  is  great. 
Truisms  often  suffer  neglect.  There  are  a  few  whose 
ambition  it  is  to  succeed  in  public  speaking  by  mere  tricks 
of  delivery  and  a  few  smart  sayings.  There  are  many  who, 
though  sincere,  yet  do  practically  ignore  the  truism, 
through  both  indolence  and  training.  From  the  lower 
grades  up,  they  have  been  copying  matter  from  books, 
\ATith  a  little  condensing  and  rearranging,  but  with  little 
assimilation,  and  handing  it  in  to  satisfy  the  unceasing 
demand  for  compositions  and  "papers."  The  emphasis 
here  put  upon  the  principles  and  methods  of  preparation 
is  due  to  long  experience  in  attempting  to  teach  college 
students  to  speak  in  an  interesting,  effective  and  sincere 
way. 


CHAPTER  V 

« 

EMOTION 

We  should  now  give  special  attention  to  a  subject  that 
is  much  involved  in  Chapters  III  and  IV;  that  is,  feeling 
or  emotion.  For  our  purposes  we  may  disregard  the 
psychologist's  distinction  between  these  words. 

Importance  of  Emotion.  One  often  meets  a  prejudice 
against  the  very  words  feeling  and  emotion.  This  is  due 
in  part  to  a  misuse  of  them.  The  prejudice  is  often  really 
against  excessive  emotion,  against  control  by  emotion 
in  defiance  of  reason,  or  against  the  over-free  expression 
of  emotion.  Perhaps  a  better  word  to  express  the  thing 
objected  to  is  sentimentality.  Emotion  is  a  constant 
factor  in  our  mental  states,  unless  we  reach  absolute 
indifference.  To  be  without  emotion,  indeed,  is  to  be 
without  interest,  without  happiness  as  well  as  without 
sorrow,  without  desires  good  or  bad.  Even  our  rea,wns 
are  usually  emotions.  Whether  we  act  for  the  sake  of 
*'fat"  war  contracts  or  for  love  of  country,  whether  we 
seek  selfish  pleasure  or  die  for  a  friend,  whether  we 
decide  for  "a  short  life  and  a  merry  one"  or  for  a 
moral,  temperate  career,  and  whether  we  do  our  work 
or  go  to  the  game, — in  all  cases  we  act,  if  we  are 
acting  beyond  the  range  of  habit,  under  the  control  of 
emotion.  It  makes  no  difference  that  we  may  call  our 
emotion  a  reason  or  a  motive.  Even  the  man  who  prides 
himself  most  on  living  the  life  of  reason  must,  if  he  be  a 
true  philosopher,  be  led  by  one  master  emotion, — love 
of  truth.  We  should  fix  in  our  minds  the  fact  that 
emotion,  as  such,  is  neither  good  nor  bad;  that  a  partic- 
ular emotion  may  be  good  or  bad.  Also,  emotions  may 
be  violent,  moderate,  or  weak  in  their  expression.     The 

108 


EMOTION  109 

man  who   loses   himself  in    the  study  of  minerals  may 
be  as  truly   emotional    as    one    who    cheers    for   Alma 
Mater.     Em.otion    has    no  necessary  relation  to   either 
^whoops  or  tears. 

^  Emotion  and  Sincerity.  To  say  the  speaker  should 
feel  as  well  as  think,  is  not  to  say  that  he  must  be  senti- 
mental, or  speak  with  "tears  in  his  voice,"  or  exhibit 
any  extreme  whatever,  except  in  the  rare  instances  when 
extreme  expression  is  the  fitting  response  to  the  ideas 
expressed  and  the  situation  faced.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  a  speaker  represses  himself  for  fear  of  being 
insincere,  he  forgets  that  the  pretense  of  indiffereR€^4s; 
no  less  insincere  than  the  pretense  of  feeling.  ^  We  should 
not  only  m.ean  what  we  say,  but  say  what  we  mean; 
and  this  includes  emotion  as  well  as  thought.  Sincerity 
demands  responsiveness  to  the  moods  and  feelings 
expressed.  It  does  not  ordinarily  demand  excitement  in 
expression,  for  ordinarily  one  is  not  expressing  excite- 
ment. Sincerity  is  usually  calm  though  earnest;  but 
there  are  times  when  calmness  is  the  worst  of  affectations. 
Self-control  is  good  and  necessary;  but  indifference  and 
repression  are  not  only  insincere,  they  mean  failure  as 
a  speaker.  Even  though  the  subject-matter  be  as  cold 
as  a  dem^onstration  in  geometry,  the  speaker  should  not 
be  indifferent.  There  is  always  at  least  one  appropriate 
emotion, — the  desire  to  reach  one's  hearers.  In  the  nature 
of  things,  few  speeches  are  cold;  they  deal  for  the  most 
part  with  warm  human  interests  and  range  through  the 
/'whole  gamut  of  emotions. 
]>  Emotion  Necessary  to  the  Speaker.  A  speaker  should  f;^ 
feel  what  he  says,  not  only  to  be  sincere,  but  also  to  be 
effective.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  of  truisms  that  if 
we  wish  to  make  others  feel,  we  ourselves  must  feel. 
And  it  is  frequently  important  to  a  speaker  that  he  should 
make  others  feel,  make  them  care  about  the  causes  he 


\ 


no  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

presents  and  desire  the  end  he  seeks.  We  know  we  do 
not  respond  witli  enthusiasm  to  an  advocate  who  lacks 
enthusiasm.  And  quite  apart  from  response,  we  do  not 
like  speakers  who  do  not  seem  to  care.  We  like  the  man 
who  means  what  he  says. 

Emotion  not  to  be  Assumed.  It  may  be  that  some 
actors  go  through  their  parts  cold;  and  we  may  even 
admire  the  more  their  consummate  skill.  But  a  speaker 
is  not  an  actor;  he  is  not  playing  a  part.  He  is  express- 
ing himself;  and  the  suspicion  that  he  does  not  care 
about  what  he  is  saying,  that  he  is  not  sincere,  is  fatal  to 
his  influence.  And  if  a  speaker  is  not  sincere,  he  is  almost 
sure  to  betray  himself.  There  are  subtle  effects  upon 
voice,  the  tones  and  the  accent,  which  only  the  most 
skilled  actor  can  control,  but  which  the  simplest  man  can 
feel.  There  is  a  man,  rather  prominent  in  public  life 
for  many  years,  who  is  called  a  great  orator.  Nature 
gave  him  a  voice  of  such  quality  that  his  mere  "Ladies 
and  Gentlemen"  sends  a  thrill  through  his  hearers.  He 
has  held  many  an  audience  spellbound  for  hours;  yet 
his  influence  has  been  notably  small.  It  has  rapidly 
dwindled  as  his  reputation  for  insincerity  has  grown; 
for  even  though  one  may  trick  an  audience  once  or 
twice,  he  cannot  continue  to  deceive.  For  the  aver- 
age speaker,  lacking  a  high  degree  of  skill,  deception  is 
impossible. 

It  is  true  that  we  sometimes  hear  men  delivering  with  seeming  earnest- 
ness, truths  with  which  their  practice  does  not  square;  but  the  contradic- 
tion is  more  apparent  than  real.  Men  often  do  believe  earnestly  in 
virtues  which  they  do  not  practice.  The  drunkard,  when  sobered  up, 
believes,  and  no  one  has  better  reasons  for  believing,  in  the  virtue  of 
temperance.  Men  rarely  speak  with  a  tone  of  conviction  without, 
at  least  for  the  time  being,  believing  what  they  say.  Of  course,  no 
intelligent  hearer  is  deceived  by  mere  loudness  of  tone,  redness  of  face, 
or  extravagance  of  gesture.  And,  of  course,  no  honest  man  will  desire 
to  gain  the  skill  to  deceive  successfully. 


D 


EMOTION  111 

^  Can  a  Speaker  Command  his  Feelings?  Feelings  are 
most  difficult  of  control.  They  will  not  bear  watching; 
nor  can  they  be  commanded  in  the  sense  that  one  can  say, 
"Go  to,  now,  this  is  a  patriotic  occasion;  I  will  therefore 
feel  patriotic!"  What  then  is  the  speaker's  case?  Must 
he  wait  till  feeling  comes  along  and  moves  him  out  of 
his  indifference?  This  would  do,  perhaps,  if  he  could 
speak  always  on  great  occasions,  or  before  inspiring 
audiences;  but  he  cannot.  Nor  does  he  speak  just  when 
he  feels  like  it;  but  most  often  on  some  conventional 
occasion,  often  without  any  inspiration,  without  any 
initial  inspiration,  at  any  rate,  from  occasion  or  audience. 
He  looks  into  faces  which  at  best  express  only  mild  curi- 
osity. Consider  the  faces  with  that  "do-your-duty-and-go- 
to-church"  expression  which  the  average  preacher  has  to 
confront.  On  most  occasions,  if  there  is  to  be  life,  inter- 
est and  enthusiasm,  the  speaker  must  arouse  them. 
There  are,  of  course,  audiences  and  occasions  which 
stimulate  the  speaker,  but  these  are  the  exceptions. 
Again,  while  the  speaker  usually  does  well  to  begin  quietly, 
still  he  must  be  thoroughly  alert  and  prepared  in  spirit 
at  the  start;  he  cannot  afford  to  waste  the  initial  interest 
of  his  hearers.  What,  then,  can  he  do  to  prepare  him- 
self emotionally  for  his  address? 

He  can  Refrain  from  Repressing  his  Feelings.  Many 
a  young  speaker  will  find  by  introspection  that  by  a  feigned 
indifference,  assumed  to  cover  embarrassment  or  because 
of  a  foolish  fear  of  being  thought  to  "put  on,"  or  by  a 
habit  of  repression,  he  is  actually  killing  off  his  emotions. 
Express  emotion  and  it  grows;   repress  it  and  it  dies. 

He  can  Positively  Encourage  Emotion:  by  Physical 
Means.  Instead  of  repressing  his  tendencies  to  feeling, 
the  speaker  should  arouse  himself,  throw  off  the  air  of 
indifference  and  take  on  alertness.  "Setting-up  exer- 
cises," and  especially  deep  breathing,  give  a  good  start. 


112  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Physical  earnestness  is  an  important  condition  of  mental 
earnestness.     Tliis  is  beyond  dispute. 

The  James-Lange  Theory  of  Emotions.  The  statements 
of  the  two  preceding  paragra}3hs  find  support  in  the 
theory  which  holds  that  "the  feeling,  in  the  coarser 
emotions,  results  from  the  bodily  expression."  To 
quote  Professor  James :' — 

* 'Common-sense  says,  we  lose  our  fortune,  are  sorry 
and  weep;  we  meet  a  bear,  are  frightened  and  run;  we 
are  insulted  by  a  rival,  are  angry  and  strike.  .  .  The 
more  rational  statement  is  that  we  feel  sorry  because  we 
cry,  angry  because  we  strike,  afraid  because  we  tremble. 
.  .  .  Stated  in  this  crude  way,  the  hypothesis  is  pretty 
sure  to  meet  with  immediate  disbelief." 

But  Professor  James  proceeds  to  give  an  argument, 
too  long  and  technical  to  be  quoted  here,  which  has 
convinced  many.  The  theory  that  the  emotion  is 
''nothing  but  the  feeling  of  a  bodily  state,  and  it  has  a 
purely  bodily  cause,"  is  difficult  to  demonstrate  by 
experiment;  for^  "the  immense  number  of  parts  modified 
.  .  .  makes  it  so  difficult  for  us  to  reproduce  in  cold  blood 
the  total  and  integral  expression  of  any  one  emotion. 
We  may  catch  it  with  the  voluntary  muscles,  but  fail 
with  the  skin,  glands,  heart,  and  other  viscera."  Now, 
if  the  theory  be  true,  a  corollary  should  be  that  any  ^olun- 
tary  manifestation  of  an  emotion  should  give  us  the  emo- 
tion itself. 

3  "Everybody  knows  how  panic  is  increased  by  flight, 
and  how  the  giving  away  to  the  symptoms  of  grief  or 
anger  increases  the  passions  them.selves.  .  .  In  rage, 
it  is  notorious  how  we  'work  ourselves  up'  to  a  climax 
by  repeated  outbursts  of  expression.  Refuse  to  express 
the  passion  and  it  dies.  Count  ten  before  venting  your 
anger,  qnd  its  occasion  seems  ridiculous!  Whistling  to 
keep  up  courage  is  no  mere  figure  of  speech.  On  the 
other  hand,  sit  all  day  in  a  moping  posture,  sigh,  and 

^  Briefer  Course,  p.  375.     '  Idem,  p.  378.     '  Briefer  Course,  p.  382. 


EMOTION  113 

reply  to  everything  with  a  dismal  voice,  and  your  melan- 
choly lingers.  iTJiere  is  no  more  valuable  precept  in 
moral  education  than  this,  as  all  who  have  experience 
know:  if  we  wish  to  conquer  undesirable  emotional 
tendencies  in  ourselves,  we  must  assiduously,  and  in  the 
first  instance  cold-bloodedly,  go  through  the  outward 
movements  of  those  contrary  dispositions  which  we  pre- 
fer to  cultivate.]  The  reward  of  persistency  will  infallibly 
come,  in  the  fading  out  of  the  sullenness  or  depression, 
and  the  advent  of  real  cheerfulness  and  kindliness  in 
their  stead.  Smooth  the  brow,  brighten  the  eye,  contract 
the  dorsal  rather  than  the  ventral  aspect  of  the  frame, 
and  speak  in  a  major  key,  pass  the  genial  compliment, 
and  your  heart  must  be  frigid  indeed  if  it  do  not  gradually 
thaw." 

Did  you  never  begin  to  speak  mildly  your  displeasure,  and  suddenly 
flame  out  into  denunciation;  or  to  express  approval  and  find  yourself 
running  into  extravagant  praise.'^  "I  didn't  mean  to  say  all  that,"  you 
explain  ruefully,  "but  my  tongue  ran  away  with  me." 

It  should  be  said  that  this  theory  of  emotion  has  not 
been  generally  accepted  in  its  entirety,  though  most 
psychologists  admit  it  contains  a  large  measure  of  truth. 
It  undoubtedly  contains  an  important  suggestion  for  us, 
seen  especially  in  the  last  quotation  above.  We  have 
some  control  over  our  feelings,  in  a  physical  way;  we 
can  at  least  prepare  for  them  and  encourage  them. 
Action  and  expression  increase  emotion. 
^  The  Speaker  can  Develop  Emotion  from  Ideas.  Having 
gained  a  valuable  suggestion  from  the  James-Lange 
theory  of  emotion,  we  are  still  glad  we  do  not  have  to 
accept  it  fully,  but  may  retain  our  belief  that  emotions 
spring  directly  from  perceptions  and  ideas.  To  what 
extent  these  may  arouse  emotions  in  a  given  instance, 
depends  of  course  upon  what  they  are,  upon  what  we 
are  and  upon  how  they  are  related  to  our  experiences; 
and  also  upon  how  vivid,  recent  and  oft  repeated  these 
experiences  have  been,  and  upon  the  way  in  which  the 
ideas  are  presented  to  our  minds.     The  more  concrete 


114  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

their  presentation  and  the  more  vivid  their  imagery,  the 
more  ideas  tend  to  arouse  emotion.  In  other  words, 
emotion  will  be  the  natural  result  of  much  of  the  work 
urged  in  the  two  preceding  chapters,  which  might  well 
be  reviewed  at  this  point  with  the  thought  of  emotion  in 
mind. 

The  teim  associations  will  prove  useful  in  this  connec- 
tion We  may  say  that  the  feeling  vvhich  is  aroused 
by  a  word  or  an  idea  dejjends  greatly  upon  che  associa- 
tions one's  mind  has  for  it;  upon  wh  it  has  been  attach  id 
to  it  by  observation,  study  and  experience.  Home,  flag 
and  mother  are  examples  of  words  notably  strong  in 
emotional  associations  and  therefore  tending  to  arouse 
vivid  imagery  and  strong  feeling.  It  is  evidence  of  their 
force  that  the  wo'ds  instanced  a-e  greatly  overw^orked 
for  ..he  purpose  of  evoking  feeling. 

That  individuals  differ  greatlj'  in  their  associations  for  even  the  com- 
monest words, — a  fact  the  speaker  must  bear  in  mind — is  brought 
home  to  us  by  the  story  of  the  street  gamin  who  was  asked  his  idea  of 
home.      He  reph'ed:   "A  big  dry-goods  box  with  plenty  of  rags  in  winter." 

It  should  be  plain  from  the  preceding  chapters  that 
we  are  not  limited  co  actual  experience  for  associations. 
To  the  youth  who  has  lived  the  ordinary  protected  life, 
the  idea  of  justice  has  little  emotional  significance.  He 
will  tell  you  he  knows  what  it  means,  that  he  believes 
in  justice  for  all,  he  will  readily  subscribe  to  any  maxim 
about  justice;  yet  the  idea  has  little  meaning  for  him 
and  his  voice  lacks  the  ring  of  conviction.  But  suppose 
he  has  suffered  injustice,  or  is  of  a  people  that  has  suffered 
injustice;  then  the  idea  will  possess  him  and  he  will  speak 
with  an  accent  that  leaves  no  doubt  of  sincerity.  I 
have  in  mind  students  from  Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines, 
who  believed  their  countries  wronged  by  the  United  States. 
But  suppose,  again,  the  youth  has  been  stirred  by  the 
Wt-ongs  of  others  and  has  fought  for  justice  to  an  individual 


EMOTION  115 

or  a  class:  then  also  the  idea  may  command  him.  Or, 
again,  let  us  suppose  he  has  read  history  until  the  long 
struggle  for  human  rights  has  become  real  to  him:  then, 
again,  though  the  interest  may  not  be  so  keen  and  endur- 
ing, it  may  still  be  commanding. 

What  to  do.  Go  over  the  thought  material  of  which 
your  speech  is  composed,  considering  the  importance 
of  the  issues  involved,  their  practical  bearings,  illustra- 
tions from  history  and  experience,  especially  those  warm 
with  human  interest;  bring  the  matter  home  to  yourself 
in  the  most  familiar  and  intimate  way.  Imagination  has 
a  great  part  to  play  here;  for  it  is  the  spring  of  sympathy, 
— the  means  of  "putting  yourself  in  the  other  fellow's 
place."  By  means  of  visual,  auditory  and  motor  imagery 
put  yourself  into  the  very  situation  discussed,  and  you 
will  feel  the  struggle,  the  triumph,  or  whatever  emotion 
the  situation  contains.  In  general,  do  the  work  outlined 
in  the  preceding  chapter. 

Analysis  and  Feeling.  It  is  desirable  that  there  should 
be  some  interval  between  the  analytic  part  of  one's  pre- 
paration and  the  delivery  of  the  speech.  The  analytic 
frame  of  mind  is  cold,  for  analysis  is  largely  a  process  of 
abstraction;  and  abstraction  has  as  little  as  possible  to 
do  w^ith  words  of  vivid  imagery  and  emotional  associa- 
tion. The  speaker  should  be  able  to  make  a  cold,  clear 
analysis  of  his  subject;  but  he  should  pass  from  this 
stage  of  work  to  another  in  which  he  feels  as  well  as  underT 
stands  his  ideas. 

The  Time  Element.  In  considering  feeling  we  are 
again  impressed  with  the  need  of  taking  time  in  prepara- 
tion. Feeling  is  not  to  be  coerced;  it  is  to  be  developed 
from  the  thought  as  it  is  worked  over  and  assimilated. 
Only  through  assimilation  can  there  be  genuine  feeling, 
with  the  requisite  self-forgetfulness  and  abandon.  AVhen 
a  man  speaks  out  of  earnest  feeling  without  prolonged 


116  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

special  preparation,  as  in  the  case  of  Grady  referred  to 
in  the  preceding  chapter,  it  will  be  found  that  back  of 
the  speech  lies  long  experience. 

Balance  of  Thought  and  Feeling.  A  speaker  who 
makes  his  study  of  Lincoln,  arbitration,  or  the  *'honor 
system,"  in  the  ways  before  urged,  will  not  lack  sincere 
feeling.  At  the  same  time,  since  the  work  outlined  will 
give  grasp  of  his  subject,  he  will  not  be  unduly  swayed 
by  feeling.  The  ideal  condition  of  the  speaker  demands 
strong  feeling  controlled  by  clear  thinking.  But  this 
is  the  condition  which  makes  a  m.an  strong  in  all  sorts 
of  activities, — feeling  for  motive  power,  thought  to  con- 
trol and  direct.  The  mental  machine  is  useless  if  either 
is  lacking. 

The  Hours  Immediately  Preceding  Delivery.  When 
a  speaker  is  to  make  an  ''effort,"  he  should  take  pains 
to  come  upon  the  platform  physically  and  mentally  fit. 
He  should,  if  possible,  have  a  pleasant  restful  day,  "^-ith 
enough  occupation  to  keep  him  from  worrying.  He  should 
not  tire  himself  mth  a  great  deal  of  exercise.  Well- 
meaning  friends  and  committeemen  who  m.ay  wish  to 
entertain  with  sight-seeing  or  hea\^  dinners,  should  be 
firmly  discouraged.  Each  speaker  should  learn,  by 
observing  his  experience,  what  course  of  action  is  best 
calculated  to  bemg  him  on  the  platform  "^ith  energj^  on 
tap  and  nerves  at  peace;  and  to  avoid  whatever  in  the 
way  of  eating,  drinking,  or  smoking  is  likely  to  make 
his  mind  sluggish  or  his  voice  husky.  It  is  generally  best 
to  avoid  eating  -within  two  hours,  or  better  three,  of  the 
time  of  speaking. 

Some  will  find  it  to  their  advantage  to  spend  the  time 
immediately  preceding  the  speech,  say  the  last  hour,  in 
special  preparation.  They  may  need  to  bring  themselves 
to  physical  alertness,  to  gain  poise  and  com.mand.  Exer- 
cises will  aid  in  this ;   and  especially  deep-breathing  exer- 


EMOTION  117 

cises  will  do  much  to  check  nervousness  (for  they  demand 
good  control  of  the  nerves),  to  relieve  throat  constric- 
tion and  to  help  the  speaker  "find  his  voice."  Such 
exercises  take  a  speaker's  mind  off  his  worries,  if  he  has 
any.  Nervousness  over  speaking  is  not  due  so  much  to 
the  fact  that  public  speaking  is  such  a  fearsome  thing  in 
itself,  as  to  worry  about  it.  It  is  not  desirable,  however, 
that  a  speaker  should  be  as  cool  as  the  proverbial  cucum- 
ber; only  that  the  necessary  nervous  tension  should  not 
be  so  great  as  to  destroy  self-control.  And  here  we  may 
make  another  application  of  the  James-Lange  theory: 
Let  a  man  act  as  if  he  were  courageous,  alert,  at  ease, 
and  he  will  tend  to  feel  so. 

Often  it  is  best  to  keep  one's  mind  off  one's  speech 
during  the  day  it  is  to  be  delivered;  and  in  particular 
to  avoid  fussing  over  its  structure  and  wording.  At  times, 
it  is  helpful  to  read  and  think  on  the  subject,  "pumping 
one's  self  full  of  it."  This  presumes  of  course,  that  prep- 
aration has  been  completed.  Shortly  before  speaking 
it  may  be  a  relief  to  run  over  the  thought  of  one's  speech 
to  assure  one's  self  that  it  is  clearly  in  mind  and  to  get  into 
its  mood.  The  conclusions  and  purposes  of  the  speech 
should  especially  be  considered  to  guard  against  yielding 
overmuch  to  the  superficial  aspects  of  the  occasion. 

A  colored  student  preparing  to  take  part  in  a  speaking  contest,  with 
a  speech  which  was  a  plea  for  equal  opportunity,  kept  saying,  "I  am  not 
out  for  the  prize;  I  am  going  to  speak  for  my  people."  And  he  did, 
with  great  force  and  sincerity. 

Obviously  there  will  be  many  circumstances  under  which 
some  of  the  foregoing  suggestions  will  be  useless,  or  even 
unwise.  But  it  is  not  unwise  to  take  note  of  the  fact 
that  just  as  the  athlete  must  not  only  know  his  game, 
but  must  come  on  the  field  in  fit  condition,  so  should  the 
speaker  not  only  know  his  subject,  but  also  come  upon  the 
platform  in  condition  to  do  his  best. 


118  PUBLIC    SPEAKING 

Emotional  Drifting  during  Delivery.  By  drifting  is 
meant  continuing  in  one  mood  regardless  of  the  character 
of  the  ideas  expressed.  The  effect  is  as  incongruous  and 
monotonous  as  that  produced  by  a  certain  fiddler  who 
played  always  on  one  string.  Many  a  speaker  needs 
to  guard  against  working  himself  into  a  strained,  excited 
mood  in  which  he  gives  neither  himself  nor  his  audience 
relief.  The  resulting  monotony  is  as  truly  monotony 
as  that  of  one  who  never  warms  up,  or  one  who  speaks 
always  in  a  gently  complaining  mood.  I  have  in  mind  a 
preacher  of  some  note  who,  about  five  minutes  from  the 
end  of  his  sermons,  invariably  drops  into  a  low,  supposedly 
solemn  tone  of  exhortation,  and  this  quite  regardless  of 
the  character  of  his  concluding  remarks.  Such  habits 
are  easily  acquu-ed,  especially  when  one  speaks  often 
under  the  same  circumstances.  All  such  tendencies  are 
to  be  fought  by  keeping  constantly  alert  on  the  platform. 
It  is  also  well  for  a  speaker  to  watch  his  speeches  to  see 
that  he  does  not  encourage  such  habits  by  writing  always 
in  one  vein.  If  he  extemporizes  much  the  danger  of 
following  habit  is  still  greater;  and  he  should  either 
occasionally  write  a  speech  or  have  a  stenographer  reveal 
to  him  his  tendencies. 

Emotion  of  the  Audience.  The  treatment  of  this  topic  will  be  re- 
served for  the  chapters  which  deal  with  interesting,  persuading  and 
convincing  audiences. 

Note. — Some  may  prefer  to  pass  over  the  next  four  chapters,  which 
include  the  greater  part  of  what  remains  to  be  said  in  this  text  on 
delivery,  and  take  up  at  once  the  study  of  interest  as  applied  to  audi- 
ences. It  will  be  well,  in  any  case,  to  look  over  ths  first  part  of  the 
chapter  on  gesture  and  to  bsgin  the  practice  of  gasturing  early.  The 
subject  is  closely  related  to  emotion. 


CHAPTER  VI 

GESTURE 

The  term  gesture  is  broad  enough  to  cover  e^^ery  action 
and  posture  expressive  of  thought  or  feehng.  It  suggests 
action  and  we  usually  think  of  gesture  as  movement, 
especially  of  hands  and  arms ;  but  good  usage  will  justify 
the  above  statement.  We  cannot,  furthermore,  limit 
ourselves  to  actions  which  are  "intended  to  express  an 
idea  or  a  passion;"  for  we  are  concerned  with  all  expres- 
sion, whether  intentional  or  not. 

But  taking  gesture  in  the  more  usual  sense  of  action 
intended  to  express  ideas  and  feelings,  Why  should  the 
speaker  gesture? 

Gesture   is  an  Important  Means   of  Expression.     A 
speaker  who  is  full  of  his  subject  and  has  a  great  deal  to   _^, 
express  will  feel  the  need  of  every  means  of  expressing  H 
himself.     Any  man  who  eagerly  desires  to  communicate 
his  ideas  and  feelings,  knows  the  inadequacy  of  language.    ' 
This  is  not  to  imply  that  gesture  is  the  resource  only 
of  those  exceedingly  serious  over  a  great  message.     Any 
one  eager  to  convey  an  impression,  though  it  be  of  the 
lightest  nature,  feels  the  need  of  action. 

We  find,  too,  that  although  its  range  is  more  limited, 
gesture  is  often  a  quicker,  plainer  and  stronger  means  of 
expression  than  spoken  words,  for  its  appeal  is  to  the 
eye.  A  motion  toward  the  door,  a  shrug,  a  lifted  eye- 
brow,— what  words  can  equal  these  gestures?  Gesture, 
within  its  limitations,  is  an  unmistakable  language, 
and  is  understood  by  men  of  all  races  and  tongues.  Even 
a  dog  understands  some  gestures.  Gesture  is  our  most 
instinctive  language;  at  least  it  goes  back  to  the  beginning 
of  all  communication  when  the  race,  still  lacking  articulate 

119 


120  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

speech,  could  express  only  through  the  tones  of  inarticu- 
late sounds  and  through  mo\'enients.  And  because  it  is  so 
deeply  imbedded  in  our  primitive  reactions,  all  men  express 
themselves  by  g(^sture  and  all  men  understand  gesture. 
Gesture  is  Particularly  Adapted  to  the  Expression  of 
Feeling.  The  degree  of  the  speaker's  earnestness,  his 
attitude  toward  the  idea  i)resented,  whether  he  accounts 
it  trivial  or  important,  accej^table  or  objectionable, 
pleasing  or  disgusting,  uplifting  or  debasing,  whether  he 
is  eager  or  conservative,  mocking  or  serious, — all  these 
and  many  other  attitudes  and  feelings  the  speaker  reveals 
by  posture,  action  and  facial  expression.  Gesture  is  used 
also,  but  less  frequently,  to  express  cold  fact  and  ideas 
apart  from  feeling;  as,  that  the  statue  was  so  high,  or 
that  there  are  two  opposing  principles.  Its  use  for  this 
purpose  is  obviously  limited.  In  narration  and  descrip- 
tion action  is  much  used;  but  usually  in  these  there  is  a 
strong  emotional  coloring.  Words  have  developed  along 
w4th  ideas,  and  generally  speaking,  are  the  clearest  expres- 
sion of  them.  Emotions  are  more  primitive  than  ideas. 
Primitive  man  had  little  to  express  besides  his  likes  and 
his  dislikes,  his  joy  and  his  sorrow,  his  fear  and  his  triumph. 

Darwin  and  others  have  traced  the  origin  of  our  familiar  gestures, 
in  many  instances,  to  "serviceable  associated  habits"  developed  by  our 
early  ancestors.  Thus,  ^"the  snarl  or  sneer,  the  one-sided  uncovering 
of  the  upper  teeth,  is  accounted  for  by  Darwin  as  a  survival  from  the 
time  when  our  ancestors  had  large  canines,  and  unfleshed  them  (as  dogs 
do  now)  for  attack."  Very  likely  some  of  the  attempted  explanations 
of  particular  actions  are  far-fetched;  but  the  general  thought  is  sugges- 
tive. We  can  readily  understand  how  among  the  natural  indications 
of  aggressive  determination  are  a  jaw  set  and  protruding  and  clenched 
fists. 

"^Another  principle  .  .  .  may  be  called  the  principle  of  reacting 
similarly  to  analogous-jeeling  stimuli.  ...  As  soon  as  any  experience 
arises  which  has  an  affinity  with  the  feeling  of  sweet,  or  sour,  or  bitter, 
the  same  movements  are  executed  which  would  result  from  the  taste 
in  point.     .     .     .     Disgust  is  an  incipient     .     .     .     retching,  limiting 

^James,  Briefer  Course,  p.  388.     ^Idem,    p.    389. 


GESTURE  121 

its  expression  often  to  the  grimace  of  lips  and  nose;  satisfaction  goes 
with  a  sucking  smile,  or  tasting  motion  of  the  lips.  The  ordinary  gesture 
of  negation — among  us,  moving  the  head  about  its  axis  from  side  to  side — 
is  a  reaction  originally  used  by  babies  to  keep  disagreeables  from  getting 
into  their  mouth,  and  may  be  observed  in  perfection  in  any  nursery." 

^"Primitive  language  was  largely  a  gesture-language.  Since  the 
spoken  words  gave  only  a  partial  account  of  the  event  described,  they 
were  eked  out  by  movements  of  hand  or  feature.  And  foremost 
among  these  movements  were  the  movements  that  correspond  to  the 
metaphor.  The  successful  hunter  actually  licked  his  lips,  and  seemed  to 
suck  a  sweet  morsel;  the  unsuccessful  drew  his  lips  sideways,  as  if  he 
were  trying  to  taste  as  little  as  possible  of  his  sour  draught. 

"Now  we  begin  to  see  where  the  argument  is  taking  us.  Certain 
processes  in  the  emotion  .  .  .  suggest  a  metaphor,  by  simultaneous 
association;  and  the  metaphor  brings  a  movement  with  it.  As  language 
develops,  the  metaphor  is  lost:  it  is  no  longer  necessary.  But  the  move- 
ment persists.  When  the  emotion  comes,  the  movement  comes  with  it. 
The  movement  survives,  partly  because  of  its  intrinsic  fitness  to  com- 
municate to  others  a  knowledge  of  our  emotion,  and  partly  because 
gesture  cannot  change  as  language  can." 

We  have  many  gestures  that  exhibit  the  metaphorical 
character;  as,  the  wide-flung  hands  expressive  of  welcome 
or  liberality,  the  tossing  motion  expressive  of  carelessness, 
the  palm  thrust  forward  expressive  of  repelling,  the 
uplifted  hand  expressive  in  various  positions  of  nobility, 
aspiration,  or  reverence. 

I  have  gone  so  far  in  considering  the  otigin  of  expressive 
action,  not  only  to  show  how  broad  and  universal  is  its 
appeal,  but  also  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  second  and 
chief  reason  for  gesturing;   and  that  is — 

The  Speaker  Needs  Gesture  to  Free  him  from  Restraint 
and  Bring  him  into  a  Normal  Condition  on  the  Platform. 
More  and  more  this  reason  impresses  me  as  a  teacher. 
Students  never  find  themselves  as  speakers,  never  escape 
the  bonds  of  restraint,  never  become  really  direct  and 
communicative,  until  they  gesture.  It  is  unnatural 
not  to  gesture  in  any  wide-awake  discourse.  Any  real 
speaker  would  be  in  distress  if  compelled  to  restrain 
gesture.  One  might  as  well  run  a  race  with  one's  hands 
tied.    We  begin  to  use  gesture  in  earliest  infancy.    Children 

^Titchener,   Primer  of  Psychology,  p.  I4i8. 


122  PUBLIC   SPEAKING 

gesture  a  great  deal.  That  they  gesture  less  as  they 
grow  older  is  due  in  part  to  constant  checking.  Their 
gestures  knock  over  bric-a-brac,  and  *'Don't!"  is  heard 
from  morn  till  night.  Habits  of  restraint  are  formed. 
We  learn  that  it  is  not  best  to  express  every  thpught 
and  feeling  that  comes .  But  we  never  cease  to  use  gesture ; 
not  even  the  more  noticeable  motions  of  hands  and  arms. 
It  is  amusing  to  be  told  by  students  that  they  do  not 
gesture  in  conversation.  Contradict  them  and  force 
them  to  strong  assertion,  and  they  never  fail  to  make 
a  vigorous  movement  to  enforce  their  denial.  One  stu- 
dent repeated  this  gesture  three  times  in  succession, 
though  consciously  trying  to  restrain  the  action  and 
laughing  at  himself  for  his  absurdity.  Every  man  makes 
innumerable  movements,  and  these  increase  as  he  warms 
up  in  his  talk.  And  this  brings  us  to  a  third  reason  for 
gesturing. 

We  are  Bound  to  Gesture  whether  we  will  or  no; 
if  not  well,  then  ill.  This  is  true  if  we  really  speak  with 
I  any  force  and  effect.  If  we  are  alive  to  our  work,  the 
impulse  to  action  will  be  present  and  will  show  itself 
somehow;  in  uneasy  twitchings,  starts  of  the  hands, 
restless  shifting  of  feet  and  position,  or  fumbling  with 
clothing.  Repression  will  show  itself  in  rigidity.  All 
this  may  itself  be  called  gesture;  for  all  appeals  to  the 
eyes  of  the  audience,  and  seems  to  cry  aloud,  "See  how 
repressed,  how  nervous,  how  awkward  I  am!"  It  is 
much  better  to  give  rein  to  the  natural  impulses  and  use 
the  hands  to  emphasize  thought  than  to  examine  the 
edge  of  one's  coat  or  to  hitch  up  one's  trousers.  True, 
the  hands  may  be  stuck  in  one's  pockets  or  held  in  leash 
at  the  back;  but  these  are  not  attitudes  always  becoming 
to  young  speakers,  to  say  nothing  of  the  loss  of  expression 
and  freedom.  Besides,  hands  and  arms  are  only  one 
part  of  gesture. 


GESTURE  123 

■  To  Suppress  Gesture  is  to  Suppress  Feeling.  We 
have  been  assuming  a  speaker  alive  to  his  task,  really 
trying  to  express.  But  it  is  doubtful  if  a  speaker  can 
remain  in  that  condition  long,  if  he  repress  gesture. 
Gripping  one's  chair  is  a  familiar  device  for  keeping  cool. 
As  we  learned  in  Chapter  V,  repression  of  feeling  is  often 
the  death  of  feeling;  gestural  expression  wall  heighten 
or  even  produce  the  appropriate  feeling.  The  following 
is  by  a  writer  not  committed  to  the  James-Lange  theory 
of  emotion : 

^"When  Deerslayer  caught  the  tomahawk  hurled  at 
him,  'his  hand  was  raised  above  and  behind  his  own  head, 
and  in  the  very  attitude  necessary  to  return  the  attack. 
It  is  not  certain' — notice  this  sentence — 'whether  the 
circumstance  of  finding  himself  in  this  menacing  posture 
and  armed  tempted  the  young  man  to  retaliate,  or  whether 
sudden  resentment  overcame  his  forbearance  and  pru- 
dence.' Cooper  has  realized  the  undoubted  fact  that, 
given  the  attitude,  the  emotion  might  come  of  itself." 

Try  this:  Assert  to  a  friend,  real  or  imaginary,  some  simple  fact, 
just  saying,  This  thing  is  so.  Say  it  again  with  an  emphatic  stroke  of 
the  hand.  Say  it  again,  with  much  abandon,  banging  your  desk  vigor- 
ously with  your  fist. 

The  Impulse  to  Gesture.  From  what  has  been  said 
it  should  be  clear  that  gesture  should  spring  from  impulse, 
and  not  be  mere  mechanical  motions  made  by  rule  or 
imitation.  It  should  be  real  expression, — outward  re- 
sponse to  inner  impulse.  All  ideas  and  all  feelings  are 
motor.  If  we  center  our  attention  upon  the  ideas  of  our 
speech  and  if  we  are  in  the  spirit  of  what  we  are  saying, 
we  shall  have  impulses  to  action.  And  if  our  attention 
centers  most  strongly  upon  major  points,  our  gesture 
impulses  vnW  be  strongest  at  those  points;  and  the  anxious 
question  of  the  beginner,  "Where  shall  I  gesture  .5^"  will 
be  answered.   Gesture  being  in  its  nature  emphatic,  since 

^Titchener,  Primer,  p.  146. 


124  PUBLIC   SPEAKING 

it  is  an  added  means  of  expression,  should  mark  central 
thoughts,  not  incidental  or  subordinate  points. 

If  we  ^^'ere  j^erfectly  normal  beings,  this  might  be  almost 
enough  to  say  on  the  subject.  But  we  are  not  normal. 
There  is  habitual  restraint  and  repression.  We  have 
habits  of  making  a  few,  limited  movements;  and  we  say 
others  do  not  "feel  natural."  Vie  are  restrained  by  self- 
consciousness.  We  may  be  stiff  and  awkward  off  the 
platform,  and  more  so  on  the  platform.  Hence  some 
training  becomes  necessary,  in  order  that  the  impulse 
to  gesture  may  have  a  fair  chance;  and  later  it  may  be 
desirable,  after  freedom  has  been  gained,  to  somewhat 
prune  the  natural  action. 

First  Stage  of  Gesture  Training.  Gesture  training 
should  not  be  hurried,  and  the  first  stage  should  be 
limited  to  gaining  freedom  and  responsiveness  to  the 
impulses.  As  a  first  step,  just  try  to  stop  restraining 
yourself.  Don't  stick  your  hands  in  your  pockets  or 
behind  your  back;  for  this  has  the  effect  of  tying  them 
up.  Let  them  hang  freely  at  your  side.  To  be  free  re- 
quires that  there  be  no  nervous  clutching,  no  doubling 
up,  no  fussing  with  clothing,  no  rigid  holding  at  the  sides. 
The  hands  should  swing  as  loosely  as  when  you  are  walking. 
Then  speak  something  of  a  \^gorous  character,  extempor- 
ized or  memorized,  your  own  ideas  or  a  bit  from  a 
selection.  Let  yourself  go;  try  hard  to  express  the  idea  to 
your  imaginary  audience.  If  you  can  get  away  from 
self -consciousness,  something  will  happen  in  the  way  of 
gesture.  This  something  may  consist  of  very  queer 
motions.  Never  mind;  encourage  them,  and  go  on  talking 
in  an  exaggerated  way.  If  nothing  comes  of  it,  lift 
your  hand  up  with  a  free  movement  from  the  shoulder 
and  speak  a  vigorous  paragraph  without  taking  it  down. 
It  will  be  strange  indeed  if  your  hand  does  not  do  some- 
thing.    Do  not  try  to  make  it  do  anything  in  particular. 


GESTURE  •  1125 

Trust  your  muscles;   they  know  more  about  gesture  than 
you  do ! 

Poise.  Gesture  is  often  checked  by  the  restrained 
position  in  which  one  stands.  It  is  important  to  stand 
in  good  poise.  To  be  poised  is  to  stand  easily  erect, 
without  limpness  or  slouchiness  and  without  waste  of 
muscular  effort.  The  chin  is  in,  the  chest  active,  up,  alive 
(whatever  term  you  please).,  the  hips  thrust  neither 
forward  nor  backward,  the  weight  borne  directly  over 
the  hips  and  all  resting  on  the  balls  of  the  feet.  The 
weight  may  be  borne  on  both  feet  or  on  either  foot; 
but  there  must  be  no  sagging  in  either  hip.  The  feet 
should  not  ordinarily  be  held  together,  or  on  a  line,  nor 
yet  far  apart.  In  this  position  it  is  possible  to  transfer 
weight  from  one  foot  to  the  other  without  effort;  hence 
one  is  free  to  step  or  turn  easily  in  either  direction,  without 
"walking  over  one's  self."  And  this  freedom  is  of  first- 
class  importance  to  good  action. 
^^^^TTree  Body  Action.  Gesture  is  much  more  than  move- 
ments of  hands  and  arms;  the  simplest  gesture  affects 
the  whole  body,  and  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  awkward- 
ness, stiffness  and  the  "put-on"  effect,  is  failure  of  the 
body  to  5^ield  so  as  to  produce  harmonious  action.  More- 
over, if  the  body  is  not  free  to  turn,  if  the  feet  are  fastened 
to  the  floor,  the  speaker  as  he  turns  to  various  parts  of 
his  audience,  will  get  into  twisted  attitudes,  which  are 
not  only  awkward  but  give  him  a  feeling  of  restraint. 
There  is  a  constant  need  of  adjustment  by  changing  the 
position  of  the  feet  and  shifting  weight.  These  move- 
ments are  usually  very  slight  and  are  unconscious  when 
one  is  poised.  They  are  only  the  natural  movements 
which  belong  to  good  bearing  off  the  platform.  Without 
them  a  speaker  is  likely  to  fall  into  the  swing  of  a  torsion 
pendulum;  or  if  he  does  not  turn  his  body  at  all,  his  head 
will  move  like  an  advertising  automaton  in  a  show  window. 


126  PUBLIC   SPEAKING 

Another  bad  result  of  having  one's  feet  metaphorically 
bolted  to  the  floor  is  that  of  facing  most  of  the  time  in 
one  direction;  owdng  to  the  fact  that  a  turn  without 
foot  adjustment  puts  a  twist  in  the  knee  joints  which 
one  unconsciously  relieves  by  quickly  turning  back. 
And  as  a  speaker  who  stands  stock  still  usually  has  a 
favorite  position  for  his  feet,  he  is  liable  to  acquire  the 
habit  of  looking  at  one  side  of  his  audience,  with  mere 
glances  at  the  rest. 

The  chest  is  a  point  of  great  importance  to  poise  and 
free  action.  One  should  feel  it  as  the  center  of  energy. 
This  gives  a  feeling  of  buoyancy  and  easy  strength  which 
is  most  helpful  to  the  gesture  impulse.  One  is  not  likely 
to  feel  like  gesture  when  in  a  sagging  or  awkward  po- 
sition. 

Certain  exercises  will  be  helpful  in  gaining  the  poise, 
freedom  and  coordinated  action  needed.  These  may  be, 
and  usually  are  very  silly  movements  in  themselves; 
but  so  are  the  exercises  that  musicians  or  athletes  go 
through  in  preparation,  or  the  *'setting-up"  exercises  of 
military  drill.  But  an>i:hing  that  is  needed  is  not  silly. 
The  exercises  described  below  should  be  practiced  per- 
sistently; for  it  cannot  be  expected  that  a  little  practice 
will  overcome  the  habits  of  a  life- time.  Practice  them 
with  the  room  filled  with  fresh  air,  and  they  will  be  found 
restful  after  hard  study. 

There  should  be  no  misunderstanding  about  these 
exercises.  They  are  not  gestures  and  any  practice  upon 
a  '*handy  set"  of  motions  as  gestures  would  be  vicious. 
These  exercises  are  simply  to  aid  in  gaining  ease,  freedom 
and  responsiveness  to  impulse,  and  in  breaking  up  set 
habits,  such  as  making  one  or  two  movements  monoton- 
ously; and  in  making  all  natural  motions  seem  natural. 
A  very  great  variety  of  movement  is  possible,  and  the 
greatest  possible  variety  of  movement  should  be  prac- 


GESTURE  127 

ticed.     The   student   can   readily   add  to    the   exercises 
here  given,  after  these  have  been  mastered.^ 

Exercises  for  Poise 

1.  Sit  in  an  armless  chair  of  fair  height,  without 
touching  the  back,  with  head  erect,  feet  resting  easily 
but  sqUarely  on  the  floor,  arms  relaxed  in  the  lap,  and  the 
chest  expanded  but  not  strained.  Expansion  should  be 
in  all  directions;  not  pushed  out  in  front  and  contracted 
behind.  Move  gently  forward  and  back  and  from  side 
to  side,  until  the  position  is  found  in  which  the  body 
seems  to  remain  erect  with  the  slightest  effort.  This 
may  take  repeated  trials. 

2.  Keeping  the  feeling  of  poise  gained  in  Exercise  1, 
stand  easily  erect,  w4th  the  heels  together,  letting  the  toes 
find  a  comfortable  position, — they  should  be  at  an  angle 
of  about  forty -five  degrees, — with  the  weight  well  forward 
on  the  balls  of  the  feet.  Focus  the  attention  at  the  notch 
of  the  sternum  and  slowly  rise  on  the  toes,  and  at  the 
same  time  lift  the  arms  to  a  lateral  horizontal  position; 
sustain  until  there  is  something  of  the  feeling  of  lightness 
one  has  when  up  to  the  arm  pits  in  water;  then  return 
slowly  to  the  former  position,  keeping  the  weight  well 
under  control.  Do  not  push  the  hips  forward  or  let  the 
body  slump  back  on  the  heels. 

3.  Take  the  same  position  described  in  Exercise  2 
and  slowly  move  toward  the  right  until  the  weight  is 
wholly  on  one  foot  and  the  other  foot  rests  lightly  on  the 
floor.  Place  the  free  foot  as  far  as  possible  to  the  left 
without  disturbing  the  body  or  stiffening  the  leg,  then 
slowly  move  toward  the  free  foot  until  the  weight  is  well 
over  it,  and  it  has  become  the  supporting  or  "strong"  foot. 
Place  the  free  foot  forward  and  slowly  move  the  weight 
forward  over  it.  Place  the  foot  now  free  to  the  side 
and  move  the  weight  over  it;    move  the   foot  now  free 

^The  exercises  in  this  chapter  which  are  "set  solid,"  and  those  in  the 
chapter  on  Voice  Training,  are  by  my  colleague,  Professor  G.  B.  Much- 
more.  He  wishes  it  stated  that  most  of  them  are  drawn  from  his  work 
at  the  School  of  Expression,  Boston;  but  that  since  he  has  set  down  but 
a  portion  of  those  used  in  that  school,  has  added  some,  and  has  modified 
others  as  a  result  of  his  college  teaching,  he  does  not  wish  by  this 
acknowledgment  to  make  Dr.  Curry  responsible  for  this  production. 


128  PUBLIC   SPEAKING 

back,  and  transfer  the  weiglit.     The  movement  can  now 
be  made  in  any  direction. 

Exercises  for  Relaxation 

4.  Whole  body.  Stand  erect  and  let  the  liead  sink 
forward  on  tlie  cJiest;  then  let  the  shoulders  slump,  and 
the  arms  han^  limp.  Now  slowly  fold  the  spine  from  the 
top  downward,  bein^  sure  that  the  head  leads  at  all 
times.  Do  not  bend  the  knees  or  strain  the  muscles  of 
the  legs.  Unfold  the  body,  being  sure  that  the  movement 
begins  at  the  hips,  that  the  liead  follows,  and  that  the 
arms  and  shoulders  come  gradually  into  the  normal 
position.  If  these  directions  are  followed,  the  head  will 
be  the  last  part  of  the  body  to  assume  an  erect  position. 
Faults  to  be  avoided  in  the  execution  of  this  exercise  are 
the  hinge  movement  at  the  hips  with  a  straight  back,  and 
cramping  the  neck  and  lifting  the  shoulders  in  the  unfold- 
ing movement,  thereby  making  it  necessary  to  let  them 
drop  at  the  completion  of  the  exercise. 

5.  Jaw.  Standing  or  sitting  erect,  let  the  head  drop 
forward  on  the  chest  as  if  asleep;  relax  the  jaw,  tongue, 
eye-lids  and  facial  muscles.  Focus  the  attention  at  the 
base  of  the  neck  behind,  being  sure  that  there  is  no  unneces- 
sary muscular  exertion,  and  slowly  lift  the  head  to  a 
normal  position, — the  mouth  at  this  point  should  be  open 
at  least  an  inch, — then  let  the  head  back  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, then  bring  it  forward  to  an  erect  position. 

6.  Neck.  From  the  forward  position  of  the  head 
described  in  Exercise  5,  slowly  roll  the  head  around, 
describing  as  large  a  circle  as  possible.  Keep  the  face 
forward;  see  that  neck  muscles  not  necessarily  used  are 
relaxed;  and  that  the  pivotal  point  is  at  the  base  of  the 
neck.     Repeat  in  the  reverse  direction. 

7.  Arms.  a.  Stand  erect,  with  the  weight  forward, 
arms  lifted  straight  to  the  front,  palms  down.  Let  the 
arms  fall  lifelessly  to  the  side  and  swing  as  a  result  of  their 
own  momentum,  h.  Place  the  arms  parallel  above 
the  head  with  the  palms  in,  and  let  them  fall.  c.  Ex- 
tend the  arms  to  a  lateral  horizontal  position,  and  let 
them  fall  without  bending  at  the  elbow,  d.  Place  the 
arms  as  in  c;  let  the  fingers  relax,  then  the  forearm, 
bending  at  the  elbow,  then  the  upper  arm.     e.     Reverse  d, 


GESTURE  129 

beginning  by  lifting  the  shoulders  slightly.  Energize 
the  muscles  of  the  upper  arm,  with  the  forearm  pendent; 
energize  the  muscles  of  the  forearm,  then  of  the  wrist, 
and  lastly  of  the  fingers. 

8.  Wrists,  a.  With  the  upper  arms  at  the  side, 
forearms  lifted  at  right  angles  and  palms  down,  shake  the 
forearms  in  such  a  way  that  the  hands  move  freely  at  the 
^\Tist  joints,     b.     Repeat  with  the  palms  up. 

9.  Fingers.  Grasp  the  left  hand  with  the  right  by 
placing  the  thumb  of  the  right  hand  in  the  palm  of  the 
left  and  the  fingers  on  the  back;  shake  the  left  hand  until 
the  fingers  and  thumb  move  limply  at  their  base.  Reverse 
the  hands  and  repeat. 

10.  Legs.  a.  Stand  well  poised  on  one  foot  on  the 
edge  of  a  platform  or  a  step  and  let  the  other  foot  hang  over 
the  edge  until  it  is  felt  as  a  dead-\^  eight ;  then  lifting  it 
forward  let  it  fall  and  swing  with  its  o\\ai  momentum. 
Do  not  allow  the  body  to  slump  on  the  hip  of  the  strong 
side.  6.  Stand  on  the  floor  with  the  weight  on  one  foot 
and  lift  the  free  foot  forward  with  the  lower-leg  dangling 
from  the  knee,  then  let  it  drop;  lift  the  leg  to  the  side 
and  let  it  drop;  back,  and  let  it  drop;  across  the  strong 
leg  in  front,  and  let  it  drop. 

Exercises  for  Coordination 

11.  a.  Standing  with  the  weight  on  one  foot,  place 
the  free  foot  at  the  side,  and  the  arm  of  the  same  side  across 
the  body  till  the  finger  tips  touch  the  opposite  shoulder; 
then  simultaneously  imfold  the  arms  to  a  lateral  horizontal 
position  and  cross  the  strong  foot  with  the  free  foot. 
b.  To  Exercise  a  add  a  pivotal  action  of  the  head  from 
side  to  side  in  the  direction  that  corresponds  to  the  move- 
ment of  the  foot  and  in  opposition  to  that  of  the  arm. 

12.  Stand  •with,  the  weight  on  one  foot,  arms  lifted 
and  the  tips  of  the  fingers  touching  the  chest.  Step 
firmly  forward  and  at  the  same  time  unfold  the  arms  to  a 
lateral  horizontal  position.  Carry  this  unfolding  move- 
ment out  to  the  very  tips  of  the  fingers  and  see  that  the 
body  is  well  supported  on  the  forward  foot  and  is  at  its 
greatest  height.  Repeat,  starting  with  the  weight  on 
the  other  foot.  Repeat,  unfolding  the  arms  at  an  angle 
of  about  forty-five  degrees. 


130  PUBLIC    SPEAKING 

13.  a.  Group  the  four  fingers  of  the  hand  closely 
about  the  thumb  and  slowly  unfold  the  fingers,  initiating 
the  movement  at  the  center  of  the  palm.  See  that  all 
fingers  are  moving  in  opposition  to  the  thumb,  continu- 
ously and  sinmltaneously,  and  at  about  equal  distances, 
until  the  whole  hand  is  completely  expanded.  Do  not 
lay  the  thumb  back  in  a  plane  with  the  palm.  b.  From 
this  expanded  condition,  slowly  close  the  hand,  this  time 
initiating  the  action  at  the  tips  of  the  fingers,  until  they 
group  again  about  the  thumb.  The  fingers  should  not 
be  stiff  or  cramped  at  any  time. 

14.  a.  Stand  well  erect,  slightly  forward  on  one 
foot,  stretch  the  arm  forward  and  describe  with  the  hand 
a  figure  eight  lying  on  its  side.  Move  the  hand  in  the 
direction  indicated  by  the  arrows  in  the  accompanying 
cut.  Let  the  movement  be  initiated  largely  at  the  shoul- 
der. Do  not  exaggerate  the  sway  of  the  body  too  much, 
but  let  it  respond  easily  to  the  movement  of  the  arm,  the 


extent  to  which  the  body  moves  depending  mainly  on 
the  size  of  the  figure  described.  Repeat  with  the  other 
arm;  then  with  both  arms;  then  with  the  arms  moving 
in  opposition  to  each  other.  Make  the  figure  now  large 
and  now  small,  b.  Repeat  the  figure  ^^^th  the  arms 
extended  laterally,  first  with  either  arm,  and  then  with 
both  arms.  c.  Repeat  occasionally  with  the  movement 
in  opposition  to  the  arrows. 

15.  a.  Stand  with  the  weight  on  the  left  foot  and 
place  the  right  foot  slightly  forward  in  a  relaxed  condition; 
look  to  the  right  at  a  definite  point,  turn  the  head  till  it 
faces  in  the  same  direction;  place  the  right  foot  slightly 
behind  the  left  and  transfer  the  weight  back  on  to  it,  and 
at  the  same  time  relax  the  left,  which  should  be  allowed 
to  adjust  itself.  Do  not  lift  it.  The  eyes,  head,  body 
and  feet  should  now  face  directly  toward  the  point  first 
selected,  b.  With  the  weight  on  the  right  foot  back, 
turn  the  eyes  to  the  right  to  a  definite  point,  then  the  head; 
turn  the  left  heel  out,  and  immediately  follow  this  action 


GESTURE  131 

by  transferring  the  weight  to  the  left  foot.  Let  the 
right  foot  adjust  itself.  Repeat  a  and  b  alternately 
until  a  complete  circle  has  been  made;  then  reverse. 
c.  With  the  weight  on  the  left  foot  back,  turn  the  eyes 
to  the  right,  and  then  the  head,  and  step  forward  by  replac- 
ing the  right  foot.  d.  With  the  weight  on  the  right 
foot  forward,  look  to  the  left,  turn  the  head,  and  step 
forward  to  the  left.  Movement  may  now  be  made  from 
any  position  in  any  direction.  These  exercises  should 
be  practiced  until  great  facility  in  moving  in  any  direction 
is  attained. 

)j^Secon(i  Stage  of  Gesture  Training.  We  will  now 
'Assume  that  the  student  of  gesture  has  had  his  first 
experience  and  to  some  degree  gotten  over  his  self- 
consciousness,  so  that  he  can  make  a  movement  without 
stopping  his  mental  processes;  that  he  has  gained  some 
poise  and  responsiveness.  This  may  take  him  some  weeks. 
We  may  now  proceed  to  more  definite  work  which  would 
not  have  been  safe  at  first. 

First,  you  may  question  yourself  a  bit :  Do  your  gestures 
express  something?  Does  your  hand  feel  it  is  talking  to 
the  audience?  Does  it  seem  to  say,  Note  this  point  in 
particular;  or,  This  is  of  little  account;  or,  This  is  dis- 
pleasing; or.  This  is  fundamental;  This  is  noble,  inspir- 
ing; Put  this  idea  from  you?  These  and  many  other 
things  your  action  can  say  and  you  should  begin  to  feel 
it  is  speaking. 

Try  now  to  express  shades  of  meaning.  Say  with  your 
hands :  This  is  a  fact.  This  is  a  fact,  but  I  am  indifferent 
to  it.  This  is  a  fact;  make  what  you  can  of  it.  This  is 
a  fact  and  you  must  accept  it.  Work  in  all  sorts  of  moods 
and  mental  attitudes.  You  can  easily  gather  a  collection 
of  varied  sentences.  Or  you  can  find  them  in  numerous 
texts. 

Turn  to  the  selection,  Who  is  to  Blame  (see  end  of  Chap- 
ter IX.  I  assume  that  the  selection  has  been  studied 
before  this  stage  of  gesture  work  is  taken  up.)     Try  to 


132  PUBLIC    SPEAKING 

express  the  subtle  difference  between  taking  the  words 
*'a  man  may  vote  regularly,"  as  expressing  a  contempt 
for  voting,  or  as  asserting  that  even  regular  voting  is  not 
enough.  Try  to  express  with  your  hand  the  idea  that  your 
hearers  are  all  familiar  with  the  Pharisee  story.  At  line 
11  try  to  express  the  underlying,  Don't  you  see  how  it 
works?  In  lines  44-49  try  to  suggest,  first  the  indifference, 
then  the  snobbish  aloofness,  then  the  positive  but  secret 
determination;  and  then  in  the  lines  which  follow,  drive 
home  the  sweeping  denunciation.  These  are  but  a  few 
of  the  suggestions  that  might  be  made  for  this  selection. 

Keep  on  at  the  effort  to  express  one  idea  or  feeling  till 
you  conquer  it.  Depend  upon  vivid  conception,  rather 
than  upon  planning  particular  movements.  Get  before 
a  big  mirror  and  learn  from  "the  only  honest  man." 
Do  not  be  afraid  of  the  sneer  at  the  "looking-glass  orator." 
What  might  be  absurd  in  an  experienced  speaker  is  not 
necessarily  so  in  a  beginner.  Besides,  I  am  not  asking 
you  to  practice  the  gestures  of  a  speech  you  are  to  deliver. 
At  first  your  problem  was  to  do  something,  to  throw  off 
restraint.  Now  you  must  become  acquainted  with  your- 
self and  see  what  you  are  doing.  Self-consciousness  is 
bad,  but  it  is  best  to  settle  some  things  once  for  all,  rather 
than  to  carry  indefinitely  an  uneasy  consciousness  of 
awkwardness  and  mannerism.  PiW.  the  time  you  should 
keep  up  practice  for  freedom  of  action.  This,  "^-ith  a 
developed  feeling  that  you  are  talking  through  your  ges- 
ture and  a  knowledge  that  your  gestures  are  not  noticeable 
as  gestures,  because  of  stiffness  or  weakness  or  superfluous 
movements,  will  soon  bring  you  out  of  self -consciousness. 
It  is  generally  impossible  to  improve  in  any  respect  mth- 
out  an  unpleasant  stage  of  self -consciousness. 

Some  rather  fanciful  gestures  may  be  useful  in  training 
your  muscles.  Follow  with  eye  and  hand  the  flight  of  a 
bird  which  darts  about  in  a  large  auditorium  and  at  last 


GESTURE  133 

escapes  through  an  open  %\'indow.  Follow  in  the  same 
way  the  course  of  a  troop  of  cavalry  which  is  charging 
over  broken  ground,  now  out  of  sight,  now  reappearing, 
...id  now  dashing  against  the  enemy.  Count  fifty,  letting 
every  fifth  numeral  stand  in  your  mind  for  a  distinct  idea 
which  you  try  to  express  by  gesture. 

Speak  the  whole  of  the  first  paragraph  of  Who  is  to 
Blame,  keeping  at  least  one  hand  up  all  the  time.  This 
is  only  an  exercise,  of  course;  such  a  direction  for  real 
speaking  would  be  indefensible.  Still  you  should  have  the 
paragraph  thoroughly  at  command  and  speak  it  with 
as  much  meaning  as  you  can. 

Third  Stage  of  Gesture  Training.  When  one  has 
reached  the  stage  where  he  feels  that  he  is  really  expressing 
through  action,  and  X)nly  then,  he  may  venture  to  seek 
improvement  by  a  somewhat  closer  examination  of  the 
mechanism  of  gesture.  Observe,  first,  that  the  hand, 
when  sustained  in  the  air,  need  not  be  making  motions 
all  the  time,  though  it  should  not  be  limp.  At  the  side  the 
hand  should  be  free  from  all  impulses;  but  when  up  it 
should  be  ready  for  action.  After  the  stroke  of  a  gesture 
the  hand  often  remains  at  rest,  holding  attention  to  the 
thought  presented,  until  at  the  end  of  the  pause  the  next 
idea  is  taken  up.  This  will  be  true  generally  where  the 
thought  is  positive  or  deliberative.  But  where  one  does 
not  wdsh  to  hold  attention  to  the  idea,  as  where  it  is 
waved  aside  as  unimportant,  there  is  no  appreciable 
rest.  When  the  gesture  is  finished  in  any  case,  the  hand 
should  drop  or  pass  into  the  preparation  for  a  new  ges- 
ture mthout  attracting  further  attention.  To  avoid 
attracting  attention  to  the  way  your  hand  comes  down, 
let  it  fall  before  or  after  a  pause,  not  in  the  pause. 

The  way  to  get  away  from  a  finished  gesture,  is  to  forget 
it;  and  the  way  to  forget  it  is  to  think  of  the  next  point. 
It  helps  the  begimier  to  turn  to  another  part  of  the  audi- 


134  PUBLIC    SPEAKING 

ence,  as  it  is  nearly  always  proper  to  do.  A  slight  turn, 
after  the  pause  and  just  as  you  begin  the  next  phrase, 
will  take  your  attention  and  the  attention  of  your  audience 
off  the  gesture,  and  your  hands  will  come  down  without 
either  stiffness   or  floppiness. 

This  suggests  an  answer  to  a  question  which  beginners 
often  ask:  How  shall  I  respond  to  the  natural  impulse 
at  many  points  in  a  speech  to  step  forward,  and  yet  not 
walk  off  the  platform?  There  is  no  real  danger  of  stepping 
off;  but  it  is  not  pleasant  for  the  audience  to  see  a  speaker 
leaning  over  or  pacing  back  and  forth  on  the  very  edge. 
A  man  of  good  bearing  can  easily  step  back  while  speaking, 
but  he  rarely  has  to  give  the  matter  attention.  Being 
free  in  his  movements,  his  feet  adjust  themselves  under 
him  as  he  turns  from  side  to  side.  These  movements 
may  carry  him  forward  or  backward.  The  dropping 
back  of  one  foot  after  the  other  may  carry  him  back  a 
considerable  distance  in  a  single  sentence,  yet  no  one 
notices.  Ordinarily  these  adjustments  are  slight,  and 
the  beginner  must  not  suppose  that  he  should  be  con- 
stantly moving  about.  Often  the  first  freedom  shows 
itself  in  restless  movements,  w^hich  make  the  observer 
want  to  cry  out,  "Stand  still!" 

But  there  are  usually  many  places  where  a  wide-awake 
speaker  will  have  a  true  impulse  to  move  forward;  as 
where  the  thought  is  particularly  positive  and  direct.  Such 
movements  are  themselves  expressive  gestures.  At  times 
the  speaker  steps  toward  the  right  or  the  left  side  of  his 
audience;  perhaps  as  he  takes  up  a  new  point.  Such 
a  movement  may  help  a  speaker  to  get  away  from  a  com- 
pleted climax,  or  a  certain  feeling  or  attitude,  even  from 
a  high  pitch  of  voice.  The  change  helps  in  getting  a  new 
start,  nearer  the  colloquial;  and  relieves  both  speaker 
and  audience  from  the  tiresome  effect  produced  by  one 
who  stands  stock-still. 


GESTURE  135 

Try  these  exercises:  Stand  facing  left  with  right  arm 
extended  to  the  left;  turn  to  right  letting  the  arm  turn 
with  the  body.  Again,  same  position,  swing  arm  alone 
to  right .  Stand  facing  right  with  right  arm  extended  right ; 
turn  to  left  leaving  arm  unmoved.  Stand  facing  left 
with  both  arms  extended  left;  turn  to  right  leaving  left 
arm  unmoved  and  letting  right  arm  swing  with  body. 
Put  in  no  strokes  with  hands  at  all,  but  let  them  freely 
open.  Note  the  large  sweeping  character  of  these  move- 
ments. Turn  the  last  into  a  real  gesture  with  the  words: 
*'My  friends,  we  must  all  face  this  problem  together." 
Be  sure  to  let  your  eyes  sweep  over  the  whole  of  your 
imaginary  audience. 

Here  are  a  few  more  questions  by  means  of  which  you 
can  criticise  yourself:  Do  your  arms  swing  from  the 
shoulder.^  Are  your  elbows  free  from  your  sides .^^  Does 
every  joint  from  shoulder  to  finger  tip  have  a  part  in  your 
gesture?  Do  your  finger  tips  describe  curves,  rather  than 
make  angles  or  thrusts?  Does  your  body  respond  by 
moving  now  with,  now  from  the  hand?  Do  you  in  moving 
forward,  backward,  or  sideways  with  a  gesture,  really 
respond  from  head  to  foot,  rather  than  tip  and  twist 
with  your  feet  stuck  to  the  floor?  Does  your  bodily 
response  prevent  straining  of  your  arms  backward? 
Do  your  arms  swing  freely  into  all  ranges,  high  and  low? 
Do  they  at  times  swing  high  in  preparation?  Do  they 
start  soon  enough  to  permit  a  free,  full  motion?  Do  your 
gestures,  generally,  freely  reveal  the  opened  palms? 
(Do  not  try  to  hold  the  fingers  in  any  position,  and 
especially  do  not  hold  the  thumb  down.)  Do  your  hands 
sometimes  take  a  prone  position?  Can  you  straighten 
your  arm  and  open  your  hand  at  the  finish  of  a  gesture 
without  a  jerk  or  stab?  Is  the  stroke  of  your  gesture 
finished  on  the  accented  syllable  of  the  emphatic  word? 
Do  your  gestures  disappear  without  flourish,  doubling  of 


136  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

the  fist,  or  any  other  motion  which  catches  the  eye?  Do 
you  avoid  stei)ping  one  foot  over  the  other  as  you  move 
right  or  left,  especially  as  you  leave  the  platform?  All 
these  questions  you  should  be  able  to  answer  in  the 
affirmative. 

Kinds  of  Gesture.  At  the  stage  of  work  which  we  now 
assume,  we  shall  be  aided  by  a  rough  classification  of 
gestures.  It  is  made,  however,  not  so  much  for  its  own 
value  as  because  it  furnishes  a  convenient  way  of  giving 
certain  suggestions  and  warnings.  One  should  have 
attained  a  good  deal  of  freedom  in  gesture  before  consider- 
ing these;  for  in  the  early  part  of  his  work  he  should  not 
trouble  himself  about  absurdities,  but  rather  dare  to  be 
absurd. 

First,  we  will  notice  Locative  Gestures;  that  is,  ges- 
tures which  indicate  place,  with  reference  either  to 
visible  objects  or  imagined  objects.  Sentences  for  illus- 
tration: This  is  the  picture  I  refer  to.  "On  they  went, 
charging  up  that  fearful  path,  eleven  against  seventy." 

Suggestions:  Avoid  unnecessary  pointing;  as  in  say- 
ing, You  and  me.  It  is  unnecessary  to  indicate  the  seat 
of  the  emotions  as  in  either  heart  or  stomach  every  time 
one  refers  to  a  feeling.  Beware  of  unfortunate  point- 
ing; as  when  one  indicates  that  the  good  sheep  in  his 
audience  are  on  the  right  and  the  bad  goats  on  the  left, 
or  whirls  upon  the  chairman  as  a  dastardly  villain.  But 
note  that  much  depends  upon  where  the  speaker  looks. 
Since  the  audience  follows  the  speaker's  eyes  more  than 
they  do  his  hand,  they  are  not  likely  to  turn  to  an  individ- 
ual when  the  speaker  says  dramatically,  "Thou  art  the 
^  man!"  unless  he  both  points  and  looks  at  some  unfortu- 
nate. Do  not  look  fixedly  at  any  point  mthin  easy 
range  of  your  hearer's  eyes,  unless  you  wish  them  to  look 
there  also.  They  will  not  often  turn,  however,  to  a  point 
toward  the  back  of  the  room.     Do  not  look  at  a  black- 


GESTURE  137 

board,  chart  or  picture  unless  you  wish  your  audience  to 
look  there  at  that  moment. 

Do  not  look  at  a  commonplace  object,  such  as  a  white 
wall,  within  easy  range  of  their  eyes,  when  you  wish  them 
to  imagine  a  scene.  What  they  actually  see  checks 
their  imagination.  "They  bore  their  hero  back  to  the 
little  village  where  he  first  saw  the  light,  back  to  the  little 
cemetery  on  the  hill,  and  they  buried  him  there,"  de- 
claimed a  student;  and  he  pointed  mth  two  hands  and 
looked  at  the  floor.  Ever  since  that  hero  has  lain  buried 
in  a  hole  cut  through  the  dusty  old  matting  in  front  of 
that  platform.  You  will  observe  that  looking  definitely 
limits  imagination.  When  one  says,  From  north  to  south, 
meaning  merely  great  distance,  and  looks  at  a  certain 
point  as  north  and  another  as  south,  he  confines  the 
distance  within  the  room.  There  should  be  in  such  a  case 
an  indefinite  sweep  of  look  and  action,  which  suggests. 
As  far  as  you  like.  It  is  unnecessary  in  most  cases, 
unless  one  is  in  the  locality  referred  to,  to  pay  strict 
attention  to  points  of  the  compass;  but  having  indicated 
the  right  as  east,  it  should  remain  east  to  avoid  confusing 
the  picture,  as,  for  example,  in  describing  a  battle.  Do 
not  confuse  the  literal  with  the  figurative.  One  should 
not  intimate  that  "the  great  heart  of  the  universe"  is 
within  his  thorax. 

In  spite  of  all  these  "don'ts"  the  locative  gesture  may  be 
helpful  in  pointing  out  literal  objects  and  in  tickling  the 
imagination  of  the  audience  when  one  is  describing  scenes 
and  actions.  Many  of  the  absurdities  referred  to  are 
due  to  trusting  to  mechanical  plotting  rather  than  to  a 
true  imaginative  conception.  And  the  same  remarks 
may  be  applied  to  absurdities  touched  upon  below. 

Illustrative,  or  Picturing  Gestures.  We  have  these  in  the 
simplest  form  when  gestures  accompany  such  sentences 
as,  The  cloud  was  this  shape,  He  walked  hke  this.  Throw 


\ 


138  PUBLIC   SPEAKING 

down  that  bauble,  He  stretched  forth  his  hand.  The 
illustrative  gesture  attempts  to  do  for  speech  in  a  limited 
way  what  an  illustrator  does  for  written  words.  It  may 
sometimes  stimulate  imagination  far  more,  but  has 
obvious  limitations.  Illustrative  gesture  may  also  do 
for  language  what  the  figure  of  speech  does;  it  is  at  times 
metaphorical,  as  when  one  speaks  of  a  lofty  ideal,  or  a 
foundation  principle. 

Suggestions:  Do  not  attempt  the  impossible.  Some- 
times dramatic  gestural  description  is  attempted  that  is 
too  complex,  even  when  truly  carried  out.  Sometimes 
the  fault  is  simply  inadequacy,  as  when  a  preacher  held 
up  his  own  pudgy  forefinger  in  sajdng,  "the  finger  of 
God."  Do  not  reduce  the  figurative  to  the  literal.  This 
point  is  not  easy  to  state,  and  has  been  overstated. 
When  it  is  said  that  we  should  never  use  "those  gestures 
which  indicate  a  literal  carrying  out  of  the  figurative 
language,"  this  might  be  understood  as  denying  our  most 
primitive  use  of  gesture,  and  as  forbidding  one  to  make  a 
wry  face  when  one  speaks  of  a  "bitter  pill,"  or  as  a 
criticism  on  the  Crow  Indian  who  told  me  the  sermon 
we  had  listened  to  was  a  "high-up  talk,"  with  hand  held 
above  his  head.  Perhaps  it  is  sufficient  to  say.  Keep 
always  in  mind  the  fact  that  a  figurative  statement  is 
figurative.  Also,  be  careful  with  faded  metaphors. 
A  speaker  extended  his  arm  when  he  mentioned  "the  arm 
of  a  crane."  I  saw  a  debater,  describing  what  he  consid- 
ered the  repeated  encroachments  of  England  upon  the 
Transvaal,  move  down  the  platform  one  step  for  each 
encroachment. 

The  speaker  should  never  forget  that  he  is  not  an  actor. 
He  has  not  even  a  tin  sword  to  draw,  and  no  scabbard 
to  return  it  to;  and  to  provide  paraphernalia  is  rank 
absurdity.  When  the  great  orator  Burke,  wishing  to 
defy  his  enemies  in  Parliament,  drew  from  his  bosom  an 


GESTURE  1S9 

actual  gauntlet  and  hurled  it  upon  the  floor,  he  was  laughed 
at  as  he  deserved.  Distinguish  also  the  narrator  from 
the  impersonator;  that  is,  there  is  a  difference  between 
telling  about  another's  words  and  deeds  and  speaking 
in  his  person. 

"A  prominent  reader  recites  .  .  Whittier's  'Maud  Muller.' 
When  he  comes  to  the  Hnes: 

'She  stooped  where  the  cool  spring  bubbled  up. 

And  filled  for  him  her  small  tin  cup. 

And  blushed  as  she  gave  it,  looking  down 

At  her  feet  so  bare,  and  her  tattered  gown,' 
on  the  first  line  he  stoops  down  until  his  knuckles  almost  touch  the 
floor;  in  the  second  line  he  dips  at  the  water;  then  he  stands  up  and 
tries  to  blush  as  he  represents  Maud  Muller  giving  the  water  to  the 
Judge  on  horseback;  and  lastly  he  makes  a  gesture  and  looks  down 
directing  the  attention  of  the  audience  to  his  own  feet  which  are  not 
'bare'  and  to  the  'tattered  gown'  which  is  not  there." ^ 

When  speaking  the  actual  words  of  another,  impersona- 
tion Jn  tone  and  action  may  be  carried  farther;  as  in  tell- 
ing a  story  \\'ith  a  dialogue.  Note  also  that  when  an 
audience  is  aroused  they  will  accept  extremes  at  which 
in  the  beginning  they  might  laugh.  A  classmate  of  mine 
"brought  down  the  house"  by  accompanying  the  opening 
words  of  his  declamation,  "Roll  back  the  curtain  of 
history,"  with  a  magnificent,  double-armed  sweep. 
We  were  watching  him  critically  as  he  began;  but  later, 
had  he  succeeded  in  arousing  us,  we  might  have  accepted 
his  gesture  v»dthout  a  thought.  Some  go  as  far  as  to  say 
make  no  gesture  in  your  opening  words :  you  are  too  self- 
conscious,  and  your  audience  is  not  yet  interested  in  your 
subject. 

Suggestive  Gestures  are  frequently  better  for  the  public 
speaker  than  those  more  fully  illustrative.  If  Burke  had 
made  a  movement  just  suggesting  the  throwing  down  of 
a  gauntlet,  the  imagination  of  his  hearers  might  have 

^Fulton  and  Trueblood,  Practical  Elocution,  p.  338. 


140  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

formed  a  vivid  image  of  the  act,  with  no  hint  of  absurdity. 
As  an  over-elaborate  stage  setting  may  check  imagina- 
tion, so  elaborate  gestures  may  also. 

Manifestive  Gestures  is  another  classification  that  has 
been  made.  This  is  hardly  a  necessary  classification, 
but  serves  to  emphasize  the  use  of  gestures  to  manifest 
our  feelings  toward  an  object  or  idea;  as  when  one  tosses 
off  a  proposal  as  of  no  account.  These  are  suggestive 
in  character,  but  also  partake  of  the  nature  of 

Emphatic  Gestures.  These  are  the  most  serviceable 
gestures  of  all  for  the  speaker.  They  are  the  last  to  be 
conceived  by  one  going  mechanically  to  work  to  deter- 
mine his  gestures,  for  they  do  not  necessarily  suggest 
any  picture  at  all.  Often  a  beginner,  with  a  false  idea  of 
how  to  begin,  says,  "There  aren't  any  gestures  in  that 
speech,"  which  is  equivalent  to  saying,  There  is  no  force 
in  it.  All  gesture  is  emphatic  in  nature,  but  this  term  is 
applied  to  the  plain  gesture  which  simply  says,  What  I 
say  is  true.  It  may  move  in  any  direction  and  have  much 
variety.  The  principal  suggestion  to  be  made  is  to  avoid 
the  habit  of  making  the  same  movement  all  the  time 
or  gesturing  too  constantly;  for  either  of  these  habits 
soon  destroys  all  effect  from  gesturing.  Where  every 
idea  is  emphasized,  nothing  is  emphasized.  For  the  rest, 
the  general  training  advised  should  suffice.  Any  speaker 
who  is  in  earnest  will  make  emphatic  gestures. 

Conclusion.  It  is  difficult  to  discuss  gesture  on  paper 
without  making  the  matter  seem  mechanical.  But  if 
you  will  follow  out  the  course  of  training  as  laid  down 
here,  persistently  working  at  each  stage  without  hurrying 
on  to  the  next,  you  should  become  able  to  gesture  natur- 
ally and  effectively,  without  the  necessity  of  giving  the 
matter  a  thought,  although  it  may  always  be  best  to 
occasionally  observe  yourself  as  a  safeguard  against  bad 
habits.     If  you  insist  on  working  mechanically,  you  will 


GESTURE  141 

have  a  much  poorer  chance  of  arriving  at  easy  effective- 
ness. If  you  refuse  to  work  at  all,  you  are  likely  to  limit 
much  your  powers  of  expression,  or  to  do  many  awkward 
and  absurd  things  which  detract  from  the  force  of  your 
speaking. 


CHAPTER  VII 

PLATFORM  MANNERS 

Platform  manners  are  chiefly  to  be  learned  by  observa- 
tion ;  but  a  few  suggestions  may  relieve  the  embarrassment 
of  beginners.  We  may  say  that  a  speaker  should  be  a 
simple,  unpretentious  gentleman  on  the  platform;  but 
£Eat  hardly  finishes  the  matter.  To  say  that  a  man 
who  '*has  something  to  say  which  he  very  much  wishes 
to  say,"  will  conduct  himself  properly,  is  to  utter  a  half 
truth.  The  matter  is  of  some  importance,  for  every  move 
a  speaker  makes  ftom  the  time  he  is  first  noticed  by  the 
audience,  may  affect  the  success  of  his  speech.  Perhaps 
people  ought  not  to  judge  him  by  his  appearance;  but 
many  will,  and  decide  that  they  do  or  do  not  like  him, 
or  have  confidence  in  him,  before  he  speaks  a  word. 
And  he  may  be  under  temptation  to  carry  off  his  "nerves" 
with  a  swagger  or  a  slouch,  or  to  take  on  an  apologetic, 
excuse-me-for-presuming  air.  To  step  forward,  without 
attracting  any  attention  to  how  he  does  it,  but  with  an 
air  which  impresses  upon  the  audience,  "I  have  business 
with  you,"  is  to  make  a  good  start.  Nothing  will  help  so 
much  in  this  as  to  be  conscious  of  having  something  to  say 
worth  saying,  and  to  lose  self-consciousness  by  thinking 
of  the  purpose  of  speaking.  Add  to  this,  modfisty^^self- 
respect_and  respect  for  the  audience,  and  a  speaker  will 
probably  bear  himself  well_;  provided  that  he  is  capable 
of  good  bearing  off  the  platform. 

A  few  "dont's"  are  in  order:  Don't  follow  a  big  curve 
in  walking  forward;  and  don't,  on  the  other  hand, 
stride  down  the  back  of  the  platform  and  turn  front  \\'ith 
a  military  swing.  **A  straight  line  is  the  shortest  distance 
between  two  points."     If  open  to  you,  follow  this  line 

142 


PLATFORM    MANNERS  143 

to  a  position  well  forward.  If  you  can  do  so  without 
twisting  your  neck,  look  at  the  audience  as  you  come  for- 
ward. The  position  of  the  chairman,  and  perhaps  other 
persons  on  the  platform,  may  interfere  with  carrying  out 
these  suggestions. 

The  chair  is  to  be  recognized  with  a  "jNIr.  Chairman," 
or  a  bow,  or  both.  Be  deliberate  over  this  recognition 
and  speak  in  a  firm  tone.  It  helps  you  in  maintaining 
self-possession,  in  finding  your  voice,  and  also  in  gaining 
the  "sense  of  communication."  The  salutation  may  be 
given  from  the  side  of  the  platform,  or  one  may  walk  to 
the  front  and  then  turn  to  the  chairman.  The  audience 
too  should  be  recognized.  To  say  "Ladies  and  Gentle- 
men," is  not  only  good  form;  it  helps  the  speaker  strike 
the  conversational  note,  provided  he  makes  the  saluta- 
tion genuine.  The  objection  some  make  to  the  use  of 
this  salutation  by  a  student  speaker  se.ems  to  me  to  spring 
from  a  feeling  that  his  speaking  is  necessarily  unreal. 
It  is,  of  course,  good  form  merely  to  bow.  But  one  hesi- 
tates to  use  the  word  "bow,"  so  suggestive  is  it  of  the  pro- 
found obeisances  which,  however  appropriate  for  actors 
and  musicians,  are  certainly  absurd  for  public  speakers. 
If  the  young  speaker  will  always  think  of  his  bow  as  a 
genuine  salutation,  such  as  he  might  give  an  individual 
for  whom  he  has  respect,  he  will  not  go  far  wrong.  He 
wall  almost  certainly  go  right,  if  he  has  gained  good  bear- 
ing. 

There  should  be  some  form  of  leave  taking,  usually  a 
bow  at  the  end.  Do  not  say  'T  thank  you. "  I  have  asked 
many  intelligent  people  if  they  considered  this  expression 
a  desirable  convention,  and  they  have  invariably  said, 
"No."  Some  good  speakers  may  use  it;  but  it  is 
used  chiefly  by  those  who  feel  the  need  of  something  to 
relieve  the  awkwardness  of  walking  away,  and  who  object 
to  the  overdone,  formal  bows.     Make  your  bow  a  genuine 


144  PUBLIC   SPEAKING 

goodbye,  and  it  will  feel  all  right.  "I  thank  you"  has 
already  grown  into  a  meaningless  convention.  If  you 
have  some  si^ecial  reason  for  thanking  your  audience, 
do  so  in  less  abrupt  terms. 

Some  young  speakers  are  loath  to  recognize  the  audience  in  any  way; 
but  they  would  not  begin  even  a  casual  conversation  with  a  friend  on  the 
street  without  some  salutation,  nor  leave  off  without  some  form  of  fare- 
well. It  is  certainly  fitting  for  young  speakers  to  show  respect  for  their 
audiences;  old  speakers  are  scrupulously  polite.  One  must,  of  course, 
adapt  one's  self  to  the  occasion. 

I  wish  to  add  a  few  more  "don'ts":  Do  not  address 
every  imaginable  division  of  your  audience;  as,  "Mr. 
Chairman,  Members  of  the  Republican  League  of  Jones- 
ville.  Citizens  of  Jonesville,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  and 
others."  There  may  be  special  reason  for  distinguishing 
some  group  present,  but  ordinarily  not  unless  it  is  present 
as  a  group.  Do  not  address  the  "Honorable  Judges" 
at  a  debate,  if  they  are  scattered  among  the  audience. 
Do  not  take  up  time  with  repeated  addresses  to  anybody, 
unless  you  have  some  purpose  to  serve. 

Don't  hang  over  a  desk  or  chair,  like  a  tired  horse 
over  a  hitching  post.  Don't  make  a  practice  of  leaning 
against  the  desk,  or  of  keeping  your  hands  in  your  pock- 
ets, or  of  indulging  in  any  other  "free  and  easy"  actions. 
The  objection  is  not  that  these  are  necessarily  offensive, 
but  that  they  are  hardly  becoming  to  young  speakers, 
and  that  they  are  ways  of  yielding  to  nervousness.  It 
is  better  that  a  beginner  should  avoid  them.  One  who 
has  gained  poise  and  self-possession  is  not  likely  to  over 
indulge  in  these  forms  of  relief.  As  you  turn  to  leave 
the  platform,  don't  cross  your  legs  by  stepping  right 
with  the  left  foot  first,  or  left  with  the  right  foot  first. 
Don't  forget  to  be,  in  small  as  well  as  in  large  ways,  "a 
gentleman  conversing." 

It  is  convenient  to  reserve  the  larger  matters  of  courtesy  to  oppo- 
nents and  to  audience  for  the  chapters  on  Persuasion. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

VOICE    TRAINING 

There  should  be  Kttle  need  of  emphasizing  the  fact  that  a 
good  voice  is  of  great  value  to  the  public  speaker.  We 
know  that  a  good  voice  is  of  value  in  all  our  intercourse; 
and  the  work  suggested  below  is  just  as  good  for  the  voice 
in  conversation  as  in  public  speaking.  But  for  the  public 
speaker  a  voice  that  is  distinct,  pleasing,  expressive  and 
that  will  endure  hard  work,  is  a  great  help  and  a  great 
satisfaction. 

The  prejudice  against  voice  training,  which  one  sometimes  meets  with, 
has  been  in  part  justified.  The  quack  has  been  particularly  active  in  this 
field,  making  a  pretentious  show  of  knowledge  that  is  mostly  false,  and 
especially  training  to  affectation.  Nevertheless  voices  can  be  improved; 
and  there  are  to-day  men  and  women  competent  for  the  work,  both  in 
their  scientific  knowledge  of  the  vocal  organs  and  in  their  skill  to  teach. 
I  have  asked  one  of  this  number  to  prepare  the  exercises  given  below, 
endeavoring  to  make  them  (1)  brief,  (2)  sufficient  for  ordinary  needs, 
(3)  inclusive  of  nothing  not  fully  approved  by  science  and  experience,  (4) 
safe  as  possible  in  the  hands  of  those  not  highly  skilled. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  vocal  training  is  beneficial  to  the  health.  I 
know  of  no  one  who  more  enthusiastically  advises  this  training  than 
Andrew  D.  White,  who  considers  it  one  reason  for  the  long  life  he  has 
enjoyed,  now  some  fifty  years  longer  than  physicians  prophesied  for  him 
in  his  youth.  On  his  eightieth  birthday,  in  a  message  to  the  students  of 
Cornell  University,  he  wrote  among  "A  Dozen  Maxims"  this: 

"Practice  inflating  your  lungs  for  five  minutes,  at  least  three  times  a 
day,  frequently  adding  vocal  exercises.  This  will  be  one  of  the  best 
safeguards  against  tuberculosis,  and  if  you  have  anything  worth  saying 
in  public,  your  audience  will  hear  you  and  be  glad  to  listen.  .  .  A  firm, 
strong,  pleasing  voice  is  one  of  the  best  factors  of  success,  both  in  and 
after  college.  How  many  good  thinkers  I  have  seen  fail  in  securing 
attention  because  they  were  not  heard!" 

Qualities  Desired.  First  must  stand  distinctness.  If 
we  are  not  heard  we  had  better  not  speak.  If  we  are  not 
heard  with  ease  we  waste  the  attention  of  our  hearers. 

145 


146  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Nothing  is  more  likely  to  make  an  audience  tired  and 
peevish  than  difficulty  in  hearing.  "All  I  could  hear  was 
*I,'  *I',  'I,'  "  growled  a  man  as  we  came  out  from  a  lecture. 
The  speaker  who  had  given  an  interesting  lecture  on  a 
work  for  which  he  is  famous,  had  not  used  unduly  his  I's; 
but  his  weak  voice  and  quick,  nervous  utterance  were 
inadequate  in  the  great  hall,  and  the  grumbler  had  been 
annoyed.  To  distinctness  should  be  added  strength  of 
voice;  but  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  mere  loudness  will 
give  a  voice  carrying  power.  Many  speakers  and  many 
teachers  exhaust  themselves,  ruin  their  voices  and  annoy 
their  hearers  by  shouting  to  be  heard;  and  yet  their 
shouts  fail  where  a  quiet  tone  penetrates.  There  should 
be  more  reliance  upon  deliberation  and  clear-cut  utterance, 
with  full  vowels  and  well  formed  consonants.  And  with- 
out a  good  tone  to  work  with  all  else  is  difficult.  A  teacher 
in  whose  judgment  of  this  subject  I  have  great  confidence, 
lays  down  these  as  essentials  of  the  carrying  power  of  the 
voice:  the  right  amount  of  breath,  purity  of  tone,  free 
change  of  pitch  between  words,  distinct  articulation,  vocal 
quantity,  vocal  quality  and  loudness.  We  see  that  the 
matter  is  not  at  all  simple;  but  we  are  relieved  by  learning 
that,  to  a  great  extent,  we  may  rely  for  all  these  ele- 
ments upon  the  general  training  of  such  exercises  as  those 
below.  These  will  tend  to  bring  our  speech  organs  into 
a  normal  condition,  give  them  greater  strength  and 
freedom  of  action,  and  will  also  increase  control  of  the 
mechanism. 

Do  not  in  seeking  distinctness,  practice  strange  motions 
of  lips  and  tongue,  for  these  will  (unless  undertaken  under 
the  direction  of  a  skilled  teacher),  only  increase  the  rigidity 
of  those  organs.  Rather  seek  for  ease  and  freedom  b}^  the 
general  exercises.  And  do  not  practice  abnormall3^  hard 
combinations  of  sounds;  certainly  not  until  you  have 
gained  a  good  deal  of  flexibility. 


VOICE   TRAINING  147 

For  endurance  rely  entirely  upon  general  training,  which 
will  give  free  normal  action.  The  more  the  voice  is  used, 
if  used  well,  the  stronger  and  more  enduring  it  should 
become.  Responsiveness  of  voice  should  also  come  from 
the  training  prescribed  below.  Nothing  is  more  trying  to 
a  speaker  than  to  have  his  voice  fail  to  express  what  is  in 
his  mind  and  heart;  and  few  sensations  are  more  delight- 
ful than  to  feel  and  hear  one's  voice  responding  fully  and 
freely.  To  be  responsive  a  voice  must  be  flexible  and  free 
in  inflection  and  range,  and  further  it  should  have  quality 
and  rich  and  varied  tone  colors,  that  it  may  express  all  of 
one's  varied  thoughts  and  emotions.  A  voice  may  be  too 
tight,  too  limited,  too  hard  and  colorless  to  express  more 
than  cold  fact. 

One  warning  is  in  order:  If  you  admire  the  rich 
baritone  speaking  voice  and  have  but  a  light  tenor,  do 
not  try^  to  change  your  voice  to  a  baritone  by  talking  in  a 
forced  tone.  You  vnW  only  get  a  throaty,  unmusical  voice, 
"with  permanent  throat  trouble  as  a  probable  addition. 
You  must  accept  the  voice  nature  gave  you  and  improve 
it.  And  you  can  improve  your  voice  by  increasing  its 
quality,  until  it  is  as  serviceable  as  a  baritone.  A  high 
voice  mth  much  color  and  flexibility  will  seem,  to  any  but 
the  keenest  ears,  much  lower  than  it  actually  is.  After  all, 
Webster's  voice  is  described  as  a  tenor,  and  Lincoln's  was 
even  shrill  at  the  beginning  of  a  speech,  though  more 
musical  as  he  warmed  to  his  work. 

The  teacher  has  far  less  trouble  with  those  whose 
voices  are  naturally  high,  than  witli  the  many  who  pitch 
their  voices  too  high  for  their  natural  range.  Each  person 
may  be  said  to  have  a  normal  keynote,  the  note  which 
is  easiest  for  him.  From  this  his  voice  ranges  up  and 
down,  usually  through  several  notes,  and  in  animated  dis- 
course through  more  than  an  octave.  And  this  free  move- 
ment of  the  voice  contributes  much  to  its  pleasantness  and 


148  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

its  expressiveness.  Now,  it  is  a  common  fault  to  establish 
an  abnormally  high  keynote,  from  which  the  voice  rises 
but  below  which  it  rarely  falls.  Instead  of  running  high 
and  low,  it  runs  and  higher;  thereby  greatly  decreasing 
its  power  of  expression.  This  fault,  which  often  becomes 
a  habit,  seems  to  be  due  primarily  to  speaking  in  a  strained 
nervous  state,  in  which  there  is  failure  to  discriminate 
values  and  to  come  into  touch  with  one's  audience. 
When  one  finds  himself  speaking  in  this  way,  he  should 
stop  deliberately  and  seek  to  get  into  the  conversational 
frame  of  mind.  The  teacher  can  often  break  up  this 
strained  manner  of  speaking,  by  asking  a  question  about 
subject-matter,  and  then  calling  the  student's  attention 
to  the  difference  between  his  manner  of  answering  and 
the  manner  in  which  he  has  been  speaking.  The  teachings 
of  Chapters  I  and  II  are  in  point;  and  practice  on  exercises 
13  and  14,  below,  will  prove  beneficial. 

Special  defects,  such  as  stammering,  lisping  and  inability 
to  produce  certain  sounds,  may  be  helped  and  even  cured 
by  the  general  training  here  outlined;  but  usually  the 
services  of  a  skilled  teacher  are  required.  In  many  cases 
stammering  can  be  cured, — really  cured,  not  changed  into 
a  singsong;   and  in  most  cases  relief  is  possible. 

The  preceding  should  not  be  taken  to  imply  that  the  skilled  teacher 
is  not  needed  in  every  phase  of  voice  training.  In  every  department  of 
our  work  he  is  needed,  but  in  no  other  department  is  it  so  important  that 
teacher  and  pupil  come  face  to  face  as  in  voice  training.  The  best  of 
exercises  are  easily  perverted,  and  much  depends  upon  the  trained  ear. 
It  is  because  of  this  fact  and  because  some  successful  teachers  have  failed 
to  make  themselves  clear  when  devoting  a  whole  book  to  the  subject, 
that  no  attempt  is  made  here  at  a  brief  systematic  treatment.  Never- 
theless the  matter  is  too  important  to  pass  over  altogether;  and  users 
of  this  text  will  find  it  convenient  to  have  some  exercises,  at  once  standard 
and  as  safe  as  possible,  laid  out. 

For  more  detailed  treatment  of  these  tojjics,  I  refer  especially  to  Mind 
and  Voice,  by  S.  S.  Curry,  Ph.D.,  a  very  successful  teacher  of  voice,  The 
Voice  and  Practical  Phonology,  by  W.  A.  Aiken,  M.D.,  and  Voice  Produc- 


VOICE  TRAINING  149 

tion,  by  Wesley  Mills,  M.D.  For  the  very  complex  problems  of  enuncia- 
tion and  articulation  we  have  the  work  done  on  "Visible  Speech"  by 
Alex.  Melville  Bell,  and  set  forth  in  Sounds  and  their  Relations.  But  as 
this  book  is  very  difficult,  it  is  better  for  most  to  turn  to  the  populariza- 
tion of  his  work  in  the  chapter  on  Moulding  Tone  into  Words,  in  Curry's 
Mind  and  Voice. 

We  should  observe  that  in  a  sense  all  vocal  expression 
is  voice  training.  Persistent  practice  in  attempting  to 
give  full  and  adequate  vocal  interpretation  to  good  litera- 
ture, using  selections  of  a  wide  range  of  feeling,  is  one  of 
the  best  and  safest  forms  of  vocal  culture;  and,  it  may 
be  added,  of  mental  culture. 

Practice  must  be  Persistent.  All  voice  training  is  but 
folly  without  regular,  persistent,  intelligent  practice,  and 
the  older  one  is  the  more  practice  he  must  have.  If  you 
wish  to  improve  your  voice,  make  up  your  mind  to  prac- 
tice fifteen  minutes  twice  a  day,  as  a  minimum.  You  will 
not  miss  the  time,  for  you  will  find  the  exercises  a  restful 
change.  Do  not  practice,  however,  when  you  are  tired 
out;  and  never  practice  when  your  mind  is  not  alert. 
If  possible,  practice  where  you  will  not  fear  being  over- 
heard; for  to  practice  vocal  exercises  with  an  effort  to 
keep  them  subdued  may  injure  your  voice.  Freedom  is 
essential. 

Exercises  for  Breathing^ 

1.  Lie  on  your  back  flat  on  the  floor.  Place  one  hand 
well  up  on  the  chest  and  the  other  across  the  body  just 
below  the  breast  bone.  Without  interfering  with  your 
breathing,  study  its  nature.  What  parts  of  the  torso 
move.f^  Is  the  greater  movement  under  the  upper  or  the 
lower  hand.f^  Is  your  breathing  regular  or  irregular;  fast 
or  slow;  deep  or  shallow.^  Repeat  your  study  of  breath- 
ing while  standing  erect. 

2.  Lying  in  the  position  given  in  Exercise  1,  take  a  slow 
deep  breath  and  retain  by  maintaining  a  feeling  of  expan- 
sion or  slight  resistance  under  the  lower  hand,  while  the 

^Ta3  ex3rcl53j  la  t'lii  clii):?;  lii/i  oai   a-vai^iJ  by  G.   B.  Much 
more.     See  footnote  to  p.  117. 


150  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

chest  remains  firm.  Relax  all  the  neck  muscles,  and  do 
not  attempt  to  control  the  breath  by  closing  the  throat. 
During  inhalation  do  not  "push"  with  the  diaphragm,  and 
do  not  let  the  central  part  of  the  torso  collapse  during 
exhalation;  but  rather  let  the  muscles  gradually  relax. 
Increase  from  day  to  day  the  depth  of  breathing.  To 
facilitate  this,  count  mentally.  For  example,  inhale 
during  five  counts,  hold  the  breath  for  three  counts,  and 
release  the  breath  during  five  counts.  Do  not  lengthen  the 
"hold"  to  the  point  of  discomfort.  After  you  are  accus- 
tomed to  this  exercise,  take  it  while  standing,  and  while 
walking  about  the  street. 

3.  a.  While  lying  on  the  floor  with  the  arms  free  at  the 
sides,  take  a  full  easy  breath  at  the  centre  of  the  body  and 
slowly  exhale  by  making  a  slight  noise  between  the  tongue 
and  the  upper  teeth, — more  like  a  whistle  than  a  hiss. 
Make  as  little  noise  and  use  as  little  breath  as  is  possible, 
but  above  all  keep  the  escape  of  breath  regular.-  h.  Repeat 
the  exercise,  using  the  vowel  ah  instead  of  the  whistle. 

4.  Repeat  the  exercises  given  under  2,  3a  and  36  while 
standing  on  the  toes,  with  the  arms  extending  slightly  back 
of  a  lateral  horizontal  position.  Keep  the  chest  well 
expanded. 

Expansion  of  the  Torso  with  Free  Breathing 

5.  a.  Lie  flat  on  the  floor;  place  one  hand  well  up  on 
the  chest  and  the  other  under  the  body  at  the  small  of  the 
back.  Separate  the  hands  by  muscular  expansion  of  the 
torso,  but  without  interfering  with  the  rh>i:hm  of  the 
breathing.  Do  not  hold  the  breath  during  the  act  of 
expanding,  h.  With  the  torso  thus  expanded,  repeat  exer- 
cises 2,  3a  and  36. 

6.  Stand  with  the  weight  well  forward  on  one  foot,  with 
the  other  resting  lightly  on  the  floor,  and  repeat  exercises 
5a  and  5h. 

Initiation  of  Tone 

7.  Stand  erect  with  the  weight  well  forward  on  one 
foot,  chest  expanded;  take  an  easy  full  breath  and  at  the 
same  time  allow  the  jaw  to  drop  and  the  throat  muscles  to 
relax.  Then  speak  immediately  and  quickly,  but' not 
loudly,  the  vowel  ah.  Repeat  several  times,  taking  a  new 
breath  for  each  tone,  and  being  sure  to  release  the  surplus 


VOICE  TRAINING  151 

breath  after  each  tone.  Make  several  tones  in  quick 
succession  on  one  breath,  thus,  ah-ah,  ah-ah-ah,  etc. 
These  should  be  repeated  on  various  pitches  within  easy 
range  and  with  gradually  increased  range  and  volume. 

Support  of  Tone 

8.  Observing  conditions  described  in  exercise  7,  sustain 
with  animation  the  vowel  ah  on  a  single  pitch,  stopping 
the  tone  the  instant  breath  control  is  lost  and  tone  quality 
deteriorates.  Repeat  on  various  pitches  within  easy 
range,  gradually  increasing  the  range,  intensity  and  dura- 
tion of  the  tones. 

9.  With  good  body  and  breathing  conditions,  count  on 
a  sustained  pitch  and  with  a  single  breath  for  each  group, 
as  follows:  one;  one-two;  one-two-three;  one-two- 
three-four,  etc.  Be  sure  that  there  is  a  definite  relaxation 
of  the  diaphragm  and  the  associated  breathing  muscles, 
after  each  group,  and  a  definite  preparation  for  the  next 
group.  Repeat  on  various  pitches  and  gradually  increase 
the   number  of   counts   on   a   single   breath. 

10.  Observing  good  conditions,  chant  some  rhythmical 
poem,  such  as  The  Brook,  or  The  Bells  of  Shandon.  (See 
26  and  27  below.)  Begin  the  first  line  of  each  stanza  on 
an  easy  pitch,  and  begin  each  successive  line  one  interval 
higher.  Accentuate  the  correct  phrasing  and  give  a 
definite  touch  to  each  word,  in  order  that  the  thought  may 
be  brought  out,  and  thus  keep  the  chant  from  drifting  into 
a  monotonous  sing-song. 

Vowels' 

11.  Repeat  exercises  7  and  8,  using  all  the  vowel 
sounds  in  the  language. 


Consonants' 
12.  Use  various  combinations  of  all  the  vowel  and 
consonant  sounds  in  the  language,  thus:  ah-la,  ^h-ta, 
ah-ka,  etc.;  la-la,  pa-pa,  na-na,  etc.;  then  rhythmically 
thus,  la,  la-la-la,  la-la-la,  la,  la;  ka,  ka-ka-ka,  ka-ka-ka, 
kd,  kd,  etc.     Use  various  pitches  with  frequent  chaDge  of 


See  Curry's  Mind  and  Voice,  Chapter  VIII. 


152  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

tempo  and  volume.     Secure  a  delicate  but  sure  touch  and 
release  of  each  consonant. 

Range  and  Flexibility  of  Tone 

13.  Sing  the  various  vowels  up  and  down  the  scale; 
then  skip  about  freely  from  pitch  to  pitch. 

14.  o.  Count  on  a  sustained  pitch  from  one  to  ten, 
being  sure  to  release  the  surplus  breath  after  each  count 
and  to  take  a  new  breath  for  the  next.  Repeat  with  rising 
inflections  on  each  count;  with  falling  inflections;  with 
alternate  rising  and  falling  inflections,  b.  Count  in 
groups  of  five  with  a  long  falling  inflection  on  one  and  the 
other  four  with  shorter  but  definite  inflections,  successively 
falling;  with  a  short  rising  inflection  on  one,  long  falling 
inflection  on  two,  and  the  others  as  before,  etc.  Count  in 
groups  of  five  -with  a  long  rising  inflection  on  one  and  with 
successive  rising  inflections  on  the  others;  with  a  short 
rising  inflection  on  one,  long  rising  inflection  on  two,  and 
the  others  as  before,  etc.  c.  Use  some  such  simple  sen- 
tence as  the  following,  (as  an  exercise  in  voice  training, 
not  in  reading):  "I  saw  George  this  morning."  "Did 
you  see  George  this  morning.^"     Use  as  much  range  and 


'^  <  ^       ^A 


'.^ 


^^    /r  y^ 


^ 


v/  ,A  ^'^ 


1     \5*.ur  ^  i'^'f. 


VOICE  TRAINING  158 

flexibility  of  voice  as  you  have  under  your  control,  and 
change  the  focus  of  attention  in  successive  repetitions  to 
each  word  of  the  sentences.  Put  meaning  into  your 
speaking.  On  the  preceding  page  is  a  diagram  of  exercises 
14a,  146  and  14c. 

Application  of  Exercises  to  Speech 
The  reading  and  speaking  of  selections,  such  as  are  here 
given,  should  go  hand  in  hand  with  all  voice  exercises. 
The  selections  should  be  practiced,  not  carelessly,  but  with 
due  consideration  of  the  principles  laid  down  in  preceding 
chapters  on  attention,  imagination  and  emotion. 

1.  What  ho,  my  jovial  mates!     come  on!     we'll  frolic  it 
Like  fairies  frisking  in  the  merry  moonshine! 

—Scott. 

2.  A  song,  oh  a  song  for  the  merry  May ! 

The  cows  in  the  meadow,  the  lambs  at  play, 

A  chorus  of  birds  in  the  maple  tree 

And  a  world  in  blossom  for  you  and  me. 

3.  O  for  a  soft  and  gentle  wind! 

I  heard  a  fair  one  cry; 
But  give  to  me  the  snoring  breeze 

And  white  waves  heaving  high;  • 

And  white  waves  heaving  high,  my  lads. 

The  good  ship  tight  and  free; 
The  world  of  waters  is  our  home, 

And  merry  men  are  we.  — Cunningham. 

4.  Who  knows  himself  before  he  has  been  thrilled  with  indignation 
at  an  outrage,  or  has  heard  an  eloquent  tongue,  or  has  shared  the  throb 
of  thousands  in  a  national  exultation  or  alarm.'^ — Emerson. 

5.  Hurrah!   hurrah!    the  west  wind  comes  freshening  down  the  bay! 
The  rising  sails  are  filling,  give  way,  my  lads,  give  way. 

—Whittier. 

6.  Roll  on,  thou  deep  and  dark  blue  Ocean — roll! 
Ten  thousand  fleets  sweep  over  thee  in  vain. 

— Byron. 
7.    It  was  a  lover  and  his  lass. 

With  a  hey  and  a  ho,  and  a  hey-nonino ! 

That  o'er  the  green  cornfield  did  pass 

In  the  spring-time,  the  only  pretty  ring  time 

When  birds  do  sing  hey-ding-a-ding; 

Sweet  lovers  love  the  spring.  — Shakespeare. 

8.    Charge!     Chester,  charge!     On!     Stanley,  on! 

Were  the  last  words  of  Marmion.  — Scott* 


154  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

9.    Wen  you  see  a  man  in  woe, 
Walk  right  up  and  say  "hullo!" 
Say  "hullo"  an'  "how  d'  ye  do?" 
"How's  the  world  a-usin'  you?" 
Slap  the  fellow  on  his  back, 
Bring  yer  han'  down  with  a  whack; 
Waltz  right  up,  an'  don't  go  slow. 
Grin  an'  shake  an'  say  "hullo!"  — S.  W.  Foss. 

10.  Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  are  all  with  thee: 
Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  our  prayers,  our  tears. 
Our  faith,  triumphant  o'er  our  fears. 

Are  all  with  Thee — are  all  with  Thee!  — Longfellow. 

1 1 .  Come  fill  up  my  cup,  come  fill  up  my  can; 
Come  saddle  your  horses,  and  call  up  your  men; 
Come  open  the  Westport,  and  let  us  gang  free. 

And  it's  room  for  the  bonnets  of  bonnie  Dundee!   — Scott. 

12.  One  of  the  illusions  is,  that  the  present  hour  is  not  the  critical 
decisive  hour.  Write  it  on  your  heart  that  every  day  is  the  best  day  in 
the  year.  No  man  has  learned  anything  rightly,  until  he  knows  that 
every  day  is  Doomsday.  — Emerson. 

13.  No  man  can  accomplish  that  which  benefits  the  ages  and  not 
suffer.  Discoverers  do  not  reap  the  fruit  of  what  they  discover.  Reform- 
ers are  pelted  and  beaten.  Men  who  think  in  advance  of  their  time  are 
persecuted.     They  who  lead  the  flock  must  fight  the  wolf. — Beecher. 

14.  I  go  to  prove  my  soul! 

I  see  my  way  as  birds  their  trackless  way. 

I  shall  arrive!     What  time,  what  circuit  first, 

I  ask  not;  but  unless  God  send  His  hail 

Or  blinding  fireballs,  sleet  or  stifling  snow. 

In  some  time.  His  good  time,  I  shall  arrive; 

He  guides  me  and  the  bird.     In  His  good  time. — Browning. 

15.  Come,  all  ye  jolly  shepherds,  that  whistle  down  the  glen! 
I'll  tell  ye  of  a  secret  that  courtiers  dinna  ken: 

W'hat  is  the  greatest  bliss  that  the  tongue  o'  man  can  name? 
'Tis  to  woo  a  bonnie  lassie  when  the  kye  come  hame. — Hogg. 

16  Words  are  instruments  of  music;  an  ignorant  man  uses  them  for 
jargon;  but  when  a  master  touches  them  they  have  unexpected  life  and 
soul.  Some  words  sound  out  like  drums;  some  breathe  memories  sweet 
as  flutes;  some  call  like  a  clarionet;  some  shout  a  charge  like  trumpets; 
some  are  sweet  as  children's  talk;  others  rich  as  a  mother's  answering 
back. 

17.  When  a  man  lives  with  God,  his  voice  shall  be  as  sweet  as  the 
murmur  of  the  brook  and  the  rustle  of  the  corn. — Emerson. 


VOICE  TRAINING  155 

18.  Over  our  manhood  bend  the  skies; 
Against  our  fallen  and  traitor  lives 
The  great  winds  utter  prophecies; 

^Yith  our  faint  hearts  the  mountain  strives. 

Its  arms  outstretched,  the  druid  wood 

Waits  with  its  benedicite, 

And  to  our  age's  drowsy  blood 

Still  shouts  the  inspiring  sea.     — Lowell. 

19.  Ye  living  flowers  that  skirt  th'  eternal  frost! 
Ye  wild  goats,  sporting  'round  the  eagle's  nest! 
Ye  eagles,  playmates  of  the  mountain  storm! 
Ye  lightnings,  the  dread  arrows  of  the  clouds! 
Ye  signs  and  wonders  of  the  elements! 

Utter  forth  "God!"  and  fill  the  hills  with  praise! 

— Coleridge. 

20.  There  is  a  tide  in  the  afiFairs  of  men. 

Which,  taken  at  its  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune; 

Omitted,  all  the  voyage  of  their  life 

Is  bound  in  shallows,  and  in  miseries; 

And  we  must  take  the  current  when  it  serves. 

Or  lose  our  ventures. 

— Shakespeare. 

21.  Out  of  the  night  that  covers  me, 

Black  as  the  pit  from  pole  to  pole, 
I  thank  whatever  Gods  may  be 
For  my  unconquerable  soul. 

In  the  fell  clutch  of  circumstance 

I  have  not  winced  nor  cried  aloud; 
Under  the  bludgeonings  of  chance 

My  head  is  bloody,  but  unbowed. 

Beyond  this  place  of  wrath  and  tears 

Looms  but  the  Horror  of  the  shade, 
And  yet  the  menace  of  the  years 

Finds  and  shall  find  me  unafraid. 

It  matters  not  how  straight  the  gate. 

How  charged  with  punishment  the  scroll, 
I  am  the  master  of  my  fate; 

I  am  the  captain  of  my  soul. 
Invictus  — William  Ernest  Henley. 

22.  A  moment  there  was  awful  pause, — when  Berkley  cried,  "Cease 
traitor!  cease!  God's  temple  is  the  house  of  peace!"  The  other  shouted, 
"Nay,  not  so,  when  God  is  with  our  righteous  cause;  His  holiest  places 
then  are  ours.  His  temples  are  our  forts  and  towers,  that  frown  upon  the 
tyrant  foe;  in  this,  the  dawn  of  Freedom's  day,  there  is  a  time  to  fight 
and  pray!" 

23.  There  lies  the  port:     the  vessel  puffs  her  sails: 
There  gloom  the  dark  broad  seas.     My  mariners. 


15C  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Souls  that  have  toiled,  and  wrought,  and  thought  with  me. — 
That  ever  with  a  frolic  welcome  took 
The  thunder  and  the  sunshine,  and  opposed 
Free  hearts,  free  foreheads, — you  and  1  are  old; 
Old  age  has  yet  his  honor  and  his  toil; 
Death  closes  all :     but  something  ere  the  end, 
Some  work  of  noble  note,  may  yet  be  done. 
Not  unbecoming  men  that  strove  with  Gods. 
The  lights  begin  to  twinkle  from  the  rocks; 
The  long  day  wanes :  the  slow  moon  climbs;  the  deep 
Moans  round  with  many  voices.     Come  my  friends, 
'Tis  not  too  late  to  seek  a  newer  world. 
Push  off,  and  sitting  well  in  order  smite 
The  sounding  furrows;    for  my  purpose  holds 
To  sail  beyond  the  sunset  and  the  baths 
Of  all  the  western  stars,  until  I  die. 
It  may  be  that  the  gulfs  will  wash  us  down; 
It  may  be  we  shall  touch  the  Happy  Isles, 
And  see  the  great  Achilles,  whom  we  knew. 
Tho'  much  is  taken,  much  abides;  and  though 
We  are  not  now  that  strength  which  in  old  days 
Moved  earth  and  heaven;    that  which  we  are,  we  are; 
One  equal  temper  of  heroic  hearts, 
Made  weak  by  time  and  fate,  but  strong  in  will 
To  strive,  to  seek,  to  find,  and  not  to  yield. 
Ulysses.  — Tennyson. 

24,  The  suns  of  summer  seared  his  skin. 
The  cold  his  blood  congealed; 
The  forest  giants  blocked  his  way; 

The  stubborn  acres'  yield. 
He  wrenched  from  them  by  dint  of  arm, 
And  grim  old  Solitude 
t   Broke  bread  with  him  and  shared  his  cot 
Within  the  cabin  rude. 
The  gray  rocks  gnarled  his  massive  hands; 

The  north  wind  shook  his  frame; 
The  wolf  of  hunger  bit  him  oft; 
The  world  forgot  his  name; 
•  But  'mid  the  lurch  and  crash  of  trees. 
Within  the  clearing's  span 
Where  now  the  bursting  wheatheads  dip, 
The  Fates  turned  out — a  man! 
The  Frontiersman.  — Richard  Wightman. 

25.    The  splendor  falls  on  castle  walls 

And  snowy  summits  old  in  story; 
The  long  light  shakes  across  the  lakes. 

And  the  wild  cataract  leaps  in  glory. 
Blow,  bugle,  blow,  set  the  wild  echoes  flying; 
Blow,  bugle;  answer,  echoes,  dying,  dying,  dying. 


VOICE  TRAINING  157 

O  hark,  O  hear!    how  thin  and  clear, 

And  thinner,  clearer,  further  going; 
O  sweet  and  far,  from  cliff  and  scar. 

The  horns  of  Elfland  faintly  blowing! 
Blow,  let  us  hear  the  purple  glens  replying; 
Blow,  bugle;  answer,  echoes,  dying,  dying,  dying. 

O  love,  they  die  in  yon  rich  sky. 

They  faint  on  hill  or  field  or  river; 
Our  echoes  roll  from  soul  to  soul. 

And  grow  forever  and  forever. 
Blow,  bugle,  blow,  set  the  wild  echoes  flying; 
And  answer,  echoes,  answer,  dying,  dying,  dying. 
Bugle  Song.  — Tennyson. 

26.  I  come  from  haunts  of  coot  and  hern, 

I  make  a  sudden  sally. 
And  sparkle  out  among  the  fern. 
To  bicker  down  a  valley. 

By  thirty  hills  I  hurry  down. 

Or  slip  between  the  ridges; 
By  twenty  thorps,  a  little  town. 

And  half  a  hundred  bridges. 

Till  last  by  Philip's  farm  I  flow 
To  join  the  brimming  river; 
For  men  may  come  and  men  may  go. 
But  I  go  on  forever. 
The  Brook.       ,  — Tennpson. 

27.  With  deep  affection  and  recollection, 

I  often  think  of  those  Shandon  bells. 
Whose  sound  so  wild  would,  in  the  days  of  childhood. 
Fling  round  my  cradle  their  magic  spells. 

On  this  T  ponder  where'er  I  wander. 

And  thus  grow  fonder,  sweet  Cork,  of  thee. 

With  thy  bells  of  Shandon,  that  sound  so  grand,  on 
The  pleasant  waters  of  the  river  Lee. 

I've  heard  bells  chiming  full  many  a  clime  in, 

Tolling  sublime  in  cathedral  shrine; 
While  at  a  glib  rate,  brass  tongues  would  vibrate; 

But  all  their  music  spoke  naught  like  thine. 

For  memory  dwelling,  on  each  proud  swelling 
Of  thy  belfry,  knelling  its  bold  notes  free. 

Made  the  bells  of  Shandon  sound  far  more  grand,  on 
The  pleasant  waters  of  the  river  Lee. 
The  Bells  of  Shandon.  — Mahony, 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE    STUDY   AND    DELIVERY    OF    SELECTIONS 

Value  of  the  Practice.  The  practice  of  dehvering  selec- 
tions, usually  called  declamations,  from  the  works  of 
others,  as  a  means  of  learning  to  speak  in  public,  is  an 
ancient  one;  and  while  too  much  attention  has  at  times 
been  paid  to  it,  the  practice,  nevertheless,  is  valuable.  I 
believe  it  best  for  the  student  to  begin  his  work  mth 
original  speeches,  since  with  his  own  ideas,  put  in  his  oavti 
words  and  said  in  his  own  way,  he  is  less  likely  to  feel  that 
he  is  making  an  exhibition  and  more  likely  to  catch  the 
idea  that  public  speaking  is  real  communication.  Let 
him  begin  very  close  to  actual  conversation  and  then  build 
up  his  delivery  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  platform. 

But  as  soon  as  the  beginner  has  realized  in  a  measure  the 
nature  of  public  delivery,  there  are  certain  benefits  which 
he  can  secure  from  work  on  selections.  In  the  first  place, 
most  beginners  are  accustomed  to  express  but  a  limited 
range  of  ideas,  and  often  they  are  unwilling  to  express 
these  freely.  Given  a  good  selection,  they  will  often 
speak  with  more  confidence  and  freedom,  even  with  more 
earnestness,  than  with  their  own  matter;  provided,  there  ^ 
is  thorough  assimilation.  Secondly,  beginners,  before 
they  learn  how  to  work  effectively,  frequently  have,  or 
think  they  have,  extremely  little  to  say;  and  this  little 
they  are  unable  to  put  into  language  that  ^vill  "speak." 
In  short,  they  may  fail  to  prepare  speeches  that  permit 
good  deHvery.  A  good  selection  furnishes  a  speech  that 
will  speak;  and  from  it  the  student  may  catch  something 
of  the  spirit  and  style  of  good  speeches.  He  receives  the 
influence  of  good  style  in  the  best  \a  ay,  not  from  conscious 
imitation,   but  by   coming  to  feel  it  through  intimate 

158 


STUDY^F  selections  159 

acquaintance.  Again,  the  ability  to  master  and  deliver 
effectively  the  words  of  another  is  in  itself  worth  while, 
''^y'  A  speaker  frequently  wishes  to  quote  or  to  read  a  pas- 
sage. At  such  times  the  audience  rarely  listens  well;  but 
good  reading  should  be  as  direct  in  tone  and  as  easy  to 
listen  to  as  other  delivery.  We  take  up  selections  for  the 
sake  of  their  effect  upon  public  speaking;  but  the  improve- 
ment in  oral  reading  is  a  valuable  "by-product."  Pro- 
fessor Corson  has  told  us  that  oral  reading  is  one  of  the 
-^  jbest  methods  of  studying  literature,^  and  also  has  great 
■--^cultural  value.  Oral  interpretation  has  cultural  value 
because  it  is  no  child's  play  really  to  master  a  good  piece 
of  literature,  but  a  work  worthy  the  best  powers  of  any 
student  I  have  yet  met.  In  these  days  of  lectures  and 
reports  there  is  rather  little  training  in  close  interpretation 
and  little  ability  to  reproduce  faithfully  the  contents  of  a 
printed  page.  Many  a  student,  introduced  to  the  work 
of  this  chapter,  has  at  first  revolted  and  later  greatly 
valued  a  training  which  has  helped  him  in  all  his  reading, 
silent  as  well  as  oral.  Many  educators  value,  also,  the 
p)  training  in  memorizing,  holding  that  to-day  there  is  too 
little  memorizing  as  formerly  there  was  too  much.  Finally 
^  the  instructor  in  speaking  values  this  work  because  it 
"]  gives  him  the  best  opportunity  for  effectual  drill.  It  is 
true  that  many  of  the  benefits  of  work  mth  selections  can 
be  obtained  with  original  speeches  alone,  but  my  experience 
is  that,  after  the  course  is  well  started,  the  best  method  is 
to  alternate  the  two  kinds  of  speeches,  so  that  each  kind 
of  work  may  supplement  the  other.  There  are  well-known 
evils  which  may  arise  in  work  on  selections,  which  I  shall 
try  to  guard  against  in  the  following  suggestions. 

Character  of  the  Work  Proposed.     I  substitute  the  word 
selection  for  declamation  because  the  work  here  proposed 
departs  considerably  from  the  usual  practice  of  declama- 
Woice  and  Spiritual  Education. 


160  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

tion.  I  do  not  advise  a  student  early  in  his  course  to  take 
up  impersonation, — to  speak  as  Regulus  to  the  Cartha- 
ginians or  as  Webster  in  the  Senate,  for  fear  this  practice 
niight  encourage  the  tendency  to  be  unreal.  I  do  not 
r\;  wish  him  to  think  of  himself  even  as  an  interpreter.  That 
is  reading  and  we  are  working  at  speaking.  I  wish  the 
student,  even  while  interpreting,  to  speak,  strictly  in  his 
own  person,  ideas  which  he  has  made  his  ovm  and  which  he 
heartily  believes  in,  to  his  actual  audience. 

It  is  true  that  it  does  a  young  man  good  to  "get  out  of  himself"  and 
speak  as  Clay  or  Phillips;  it  enlarges  his  outlook  and  develops  his  imag- 
ination. But  these  benefits  may  be  sought  in  oral  reading  and  amateur 
acting;  though  much  acting  cannot  be  advised,  lest  the  speaker  become 
unable  to  keep  the  actor  off  the  platform.  The  speaker  who  has  first 
been  an  actor  often  has  a  hard  time  in  gaining  the  power  to  speak  as 
himself.  On  the  other  hand,  some  speakers  benefit  by  throwing  them- 
selves into  a  part  in  a  play,  finding  a  new  freedom. 

After  a  student  has  had  several  months  of  training  in 
which  to  find  himself,  some  impersonation  in  his  public 
speaking  course  may  prove  beneficial.  But  let  us  not 
confuse  reading,  acting  and  impersonating  "vvdth  public 
speaking.  It  is  the  speaker's  business  to  speak  as  himself; 
let  him  learn  by  speaking  as  himself.  And  after  all,  he 
can  cultivate  imagination  by  speaking  of  ancient  Rome 
from  the  standpoint  of  to-day,  without  thinking  he  is 
Cicero  in  the  Forum;  and  he  can  broaden  his  experience 
by  treating  of  our  Civil  War  as  related  to  the  present,  and 
by  reaching  out  from  our  little  college  world  to  the  stirring 
events  of  the  time.  Even  a  high  school  student  may  well 
take  notice  that  General  Weyler  is  no  longer  butchering 
the  innocent  Cubans  and  that  a  Chinese  exclusion  act  was 
passed  manj^  years  ago. 

It  is  true  that  public  speakers  at  times  impersonate,  or  even  become 

actors  for  a  moment;   as  in  "taking  off"  a  person  or  in  putting  a  situation 

.  vividly  before  their  hearers.     They  may  say.  Let  us  go  back  to  the  days 

of  the  Revolution  and  imagine,  etc.;    but  always  they  maintain  an 

understanding  with  their  audience.     That  is  something  very  different 


STUDY  OF  SELECTIONS  161 

from  the  performance  of  the  fifteen  year-old  boy  who  strides  forward  and 
begins  without  warning:  "Ye  call  me  Chief,  and  ye  do  well  to  call  him 
Chief  who  for  twelve  long  years  has  met  upon  the  arena  every  shape  of 
man  or  beast  the  broad  empire  could  furnish."  Too  great  indulgence  in 
that  sort  of  thing,  and  in  La  Cigarette,  Lasca,  How  the  poor  old  blind 
wind-broken  horse  won  the  race,  and  the  Deathbed  of  Benedict  Arnold 
(Tr-r-aitorl),  which  seem  to  hold  the  boards  in  school  "rhetoricals,"  goes 
far  to  establish  the  bad  habits  which  students  bring  to  college.  While  a 
mod  rate  use  of  these  kinds  of  selections  may  be  beneficial,  they  do  not 
develop  a  conception  of  genuine  public  speaking;  and  students  who  have 
been  trained  upon  them  are  more  helpless  than  those  who  never  faced  an 
audience,  when  asked  to  make  a  simple  speech  and  carry  out  the  sugges- 
tions of  Chapter  L  If  "Curfew  m-u-s-t  not  ring  t-o-n-i-g-h-t,"  at  least 
let  us  not  call  the  agony  of  prevention,  public  speaking. 

It  is  not  only  those  selections  which  manifestly  call  for 
make-believe  on  the  part  of  the  speaker,  that  I  would  put 
under  the  ban  for  our  purpose;  but  also  those  which 
because  of  their  point  of  view  are  essentially  unfitted  to  a 
given  speaker.  Such  a  speech  is  Grady's  The  New  South, 
for  a  Northern  student.  It  is  distinctly  the  speech  of  a 
Southern  man.  Then  there  are  many  which,  while  still 
as  true  as  ever,  are  quite  out  of  touch  with  the  present. 
This  same  New  South  speech  is  out  of  date  even  for  a 
Southern  student;  for  it  belongs  to  the  days  before  the 
Spanish  War  when  sectionalism  still  troubled  us.  There 
are  in  the  books  of  selections  many  good  speeches  about 
* 'Imperialism,"  a  burning  issue  in  1900,  but  now  forgotten. 
Many  speeches  about  peace  and  arbitration  sound  strange 
since  the  European  war  began.  On  the  other  hand,  many 
selections  from  speeches  first  delivered  many  years  ago 
are  as  appropriate  as  ever;  as,  for  example,  those  included 
in  this  chapter. 

Only  the  Limitations  of  the  Public  Speaker.  Under 
the  conditions  here  laid  down,  the  student  of  public  speak- 
ing will  still  have  liberties  enough.  He  may  do  any- 
thing which  any  genuine  speaker  may.  He  may  dis- 
cuss any    topic  known  among  men,  so  long  as  he  keeps 


162  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

his  feet  on  the  platform  and  remembers  who  he  is  and 
where  he  is. 

Finding  Good  Selections.  In  spite  of  the  Hmitations, 
the  supply  of  appropriate  selections  is  inexhaustible. 
While  some  old  favorites  are  ruled  out,  others,  with  or 
Avithout  modification,  are  as  good  as  ever.  A  few  allusions 
can  be  removed,  a  new  illustration  used,  a  passage  pecu- 
liarly personal  to  the  author  can  be  cut  out  or  quoted,  here 
and  there  a  passage  rewritten ;  and  by  a  variety  of  devices, 
without  affecting  the  essential  qualities  of  the  selection, 
it  may  be  used  without  pretence.  That  eloquent  bit  from 
Ingersoll,  At  Napoleon's  Tomb,  has  been  built  over  suc- 
cessfully in  several  ways  in  my  classes.  Of  course,  if  the 
alterations  have  to  be  very  extensive,  it  is  evident  that  the 
selection  in  question  is  not  the  one  to  be  used.  By  means 
of  such  changes  many  good  selections  can  be  made  which 
would  otherwise  hardly  be  thought  of.  There  is  a  fine 
passage  in  Jerome's  Three  Men  in  a  Boat,  about  lumber 
on  the  voyage  of  life.  By  composing  a  few  words  of 
explanation  about  the  stoiy  which  suggests  the  passage 
and  changing  a  bit  the  beginning,  we  have  an  excellent 
selection. 

Some  seem  horrified  by  such,  tampering  with  printed  words;  but  there 
is  not  much  sacred  literature  that  is  likely  to  be  used,  and  most  students 
have  too  much  awe  of  books.  It  is  really  excellent  training  in  speech- 
writing  to  make  a  good  selection,  cutting  out  here,  remodeling  there, 
and  producing  a  clear,  unified,  strong  speech.  It  is  rather  rarely  that 
we  filid  a  selection  of  just  the  right  length  without  some  cutting.  The 
Curtis  selection  is  composed  of  paragraphs  6  and  7  of  a  long  speech, 
with  the  excision  of  a  bit  from  the  end  of  the  first  of  the  two,  in  order  to 
remove  some  allusions  of  no  point  to-day. 

Where  to  find  good  material  is  an  ever  present  question.  There  are 
many  books  of  declamations,  and  if  the  student  will  look  upon  these  as 
containing  a  few  good  selections  and  some  good  raw  material,  and  over- 
look a  good  deal  of  trash,  he  can  make  them  useful.  Most  of  them  are 
compiled  with  other  purposes  than  ours.  They  are  filled  with  "read- 
ings" for  elocutionists.     And  it  must  be  said  that  many  of  the  editors 


STUDY  OF  SELECTIONS  163 

show  more  regard  for  sound  than  for  sense.  There  are,  however,  several 
useful  compilations. 

Among  the  best  of  these  books  for  our  purpose  are  Shurter's  American 
Oratory  of  To-day,  Shurter's  Modern  American  Speaker,  The  Hamilton 
Declamation  Quarterly,  Frink's  Neio  Century  Speaker,  and  Blackstone's 
Best  American  Orations. 

Many  of  the  best  selections  delivered  in  our  classes  are  found  by  stu- 
dents in  their  general  reading.  Such  essayists  as  Stevenson,  Ruskin  and 
Carlyle,  such  speakers  as  Curtis,  Phillips  and  Watterson,  the  current 
magazines  of  the  better  class,  and  many  other  less  promising  sources  are 
drawn  upon.  The  more  popular  works  of  scientists  and  scholars  occasion- 
ally furnish  good  material.  For  example,  a  good  selection  on  Habit  has  been 
made  from  James's  Talks  to  Teachers.  If  one  has  his  eyes  open  and  knows 
the  characteristics  of  a  good  selection,  he  will  find  material  every  day. 

Much  time  is  lost  because  the  student  begins  his  hunt  with  nothing  in 
mind  but  a  "piece  to  speak."  He  turns  over  a  hundred,  not  really 
getting  the  full  impression  of  any,  and  finally  selects  one  that  will  "do." 
Look  for  a  particular  theme,  or  a  selection  by  a  particular  author,  or  at 
least  for  a  particular  kind  of  selection,  and  when  you  find  one  at  all 
promising  give  it  careful  attention.  Seek  a  good  selection,  but  do  not 
look  for  perfection.  A  pretty  good  selection  well  assimilated  is  better 
than  the  best  one  found  too  late  for  thorough  preparation. 

Qualities  of  a  Good  Selection.  In  the  first  place,  the 
student  should  look  for  something  he  firmly  believes  in. 
Too  many  look  for  somethmg  that  "sounds  good,"  regard- 
less of  content.  Phillip's  Toussaint  L'Ouverture  is 
remarkably  good  speaking  English;  but  no  one,  unless  he 
actually  believes  them,  can  afford  to  deliver  its  astonishing 
claims.  That  would  develop  insincerity.  The  speaker 
should  not  be  contented  with  not  disbelieving  in  his  selec- 
tion; he  should  feel  the  same  responsibility  for  its  senti- 
ments as  if  he  had  WTitten  it.  Let  him  find  a  selection 
which  represents  his  views  at  least  in  the  main;  and  then 
modify  it  till  it  fits  exactly. 

Given  a  selection  you  believe  in,  the  next  question  is: 

f^Is  it  interesting?     Does  it  interest  you.^     Will  it  interest 

your  audience.'^     Sfext,  will  it  ''speak"?     Has  it  a  style  of 

such  clearness,  concreteness,  movement  and  climax  that 


164  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

it  is  adapted  to  public  delivery?  Many  a  splendid  piece 
of  literature  is  not  adapted  to  delivery.  Its  sentences  rcay 
be  too  involved;  its  thought  too  subtle  or  too  abstract, 
or  it  may  leave  too  much  to  be  inferred.  Deliver>^  may  do 
much  to  supply  the  lacks,  and  it  rray  be  good  practice  at 
times  to  speak,  for  example,  a  selection  cut  from  Emerson's 
essay  on  Self-Reliance,  and  do  your  best  to  make  it  clear 
and  impressive.  You  do  not  necessarily  wish  a  selection 
eas5^  for  your  hearers ;  make  as  great  a  dem.and  upon  their 
attention  as  you  can  successfully.  But  it  is  essential  that 
you  feel  they  are  following  you. 

Avoid  mere  eloquent  bits,  as  perorations,  which  may 
have  been  great  in  their  context,  but  which  detached  are 
mere  generalities.  These  often  com.e  after  long  discussions 
which  made  them  highly  significant  to  the  original 
audiences;  but  alone  they  are  almost  meaningless.  Be 
sure  your  selection  in  itself  says  some  definite  thing,  in 
such  terms  that  it  will  strike  home.  There  are  many 
examples  to  prove  that  a  selection  can,  in  the  space  of  five 
hundred  words,  put  an  idea  clearly,  concretely  and  speci- 
.fically. 

*-  See  that  your  selection  has  coherence  and  unity.  There 
are  many  in  the  declamation  books  which  lack  these 
qualities.  There  is  one  from  a  speech  by  Grady,  entitled 
The  Danger  of  Centralized  Government,  which  has  one 
paragraph  on  this  theme  and  the  rest  on  centralized 
wealth,  without  suggestion  of  connection  between  the  two 
topics.  If  we  are  to  treat  selections  as  merely  so  many 
eloquent  words,  their  use  is  certainly  a  wretclied  practice. 

\\  You  shpuld  seek  a  selection  which  is  better  than  you  can 
yourself  produce;  one  which  yo7i  would  wish  to  have 
written.  It  should  contain  a  clear,  strong  thought,  the 
expression  of  which  will  draw  out  your  best  powers.     The 

^^\  selection  should  be  couched  in  good  language  also.  You 
cannot  afford  to  become  so  intimate  as  you  should  with 


STUDY  OF  SELECTIONS  165 

your  selection,  to  make  it  a  part  of  your  own  thought-stuff, 
unless  it  is  thoroughly  worthy,  though  it  need  not  be  a 
masterpiece.  x'Vnd  your  study  will  give  it  a  most  severe 
test.  In  the  process  of  analysis,  assimilation  and  drill, 
every  muddy  thought,  every  weak  joint,  every  extraneous 
idea,  eveiy  inconsistency,  will  be  detected. 

After  a  student  has  really  found  himself  as  a  speaker, 
and  in  the  process  has  found  out  his  faults,  it  is  often 
advisable  to  choose,  not  the  selection  which  he  can  speak 
best,  but  one  which  vnW  best  serve  to  counteract  some 
fault.  Sometimes  a  very  conversational  selection  will 
help  a  speaker  who  tends  to  be  too  oratorical.  Sometimes 
one  whose  delivery  is  jerky  is  improved  by  a  selection  of 
unusual  rhythm  and  smoothness.  Again,  a  speaker  of  too 
great  reserve  is  brought  out  by  a  selection  which  contains  a 
dramatic  story. 

Methods  of  Preparation.  If  the  study  and  delivery  of 
selections  is  to  be  profitable,  the  work  must  be  thoroughly 
done  by  a  sound  method.  There  are  few  worse  practices 
than  the  mere  memorizing  of  words  to  "spout"  with  little 
regard  for  meaning.  It  is  about  as  bad  as  the  production 
of  undigested  stuff  in  "cribbed,"  miscalled  "original," 
speeches.  The  foundations  of  a  sound  method  have  been 
laid  in  Chapters  II,  III,  and  IV.  I  shall  now  gather  up 
these  suggestions  into  a  scheme  of  study.  It  should  be 
noted,  however,  that  many  matters  which  come  up  for 
consideration  in  the  study  of  a  given  selection  cannot  be 
indicated  in  a  general  scheme  of  study. 

The  use  of  such  a  scheme  is  a  great  advance  over  the 
usual  haphazard  study.  The  average  person  reading  over 
such  a  selection  as  Who's  to  Blame,  thinks  he  understands, 
and  he  may  well  enough  for  ordinary  purposes.  But 
mastery  sufficient  for  adequate  expression  is  quite  a  differ- 
ent matter.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  scheme  to  make 
study  fruitful  and  to  keep  attention  upon  a  selection  long 


166  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

enough  to  secure  assimilation.  Each  individual  A\'ill,  once 
started,  be  able  to  work  out  other  methods  for  himself. 
There  is  no  order  necessarily  best.  Many  processes  will 
be  carried  on  at  once.  The  thought  back  of  the  arrange- 
ment below  is  that  once  having  gained  a  general  idea  of  the 
whole,  we  should  then  master  the  smaller  details,  which  are 
necessary  to  fully  understanding  the  larger  parts.  And 
further,  the  more  analytical  work  is  put  first,  so  that  the 
more  constructive  work  of  the  latter  part  may  remove  a 
too  analytical  mood  before  the  worker  reaches  the  stage  of 
delivery. 

Scheme  for  the  Study  of  a  Selection^ 
When  this  scheme  is  used  as  the  basis  for  a  written  report, 
make  references  clear  by  giving  line  numberSy  or  otherwise. 

1.  Read  the  selection  silently  until  the  main  outlines 
are  distinct  in  your  mind.  Try  to  concentrate  your  atten- 
tion so  that  you  can  read  through  with  no  foreign  ideas 
intruding.  Do  not  read  aloud  at  all,  and  do  not  speak  the 
selection  until  you  have  mastered  it. 

2.  Make  sure  you  know  the  meaning  of  each  word  as 
here  used,  the  significance  of  each  name  and  allusion. 
(Do  not  make  guesses ;  look  up  all  words  you  are  not  sure 
of  and  include  your  findings  in  your  report.) 

3.  Indicate  the  parts  which  are  echoes,  restatements 
or  amplifications  of  preceding  parts,  and  what  they  echo, 
etc. 

4.  Indicate  the  new  idea  or  ideas  in  each  sentence. 

5.  What  is  the  chief  idea  in  each  sentence? 

6.  Give  the  last  word  of  each  phrase. 

7.  Note  definitely  the  connection  of  sentence  with 
sentence.  Supply  ellipses.  Where  can  you  make  the 
meaning  or  the  attitude  clearer  by  adding  such  expressions 
as  even,  for  example,  in  spite  of,  granting,  etc.? 

8.  Be  sure  you  realize  the  feeling  of  each  part;  that  is, 
whether  it  is  explanatory,  concessive,  ironical,  exclama- 
toiy,  triumphant,  etc. 

^This  scheme  is  a  free  adaptation  of  Professor  D.  C.  Lee's  leaflet,  How 
to  Study  a  Declamation,  which  was  based  upon  Kirby's  Public  Speaking 
and  Reading. 


STUDY  OF  SELECTIONS  167 

9.  Where  are  the  principal  chmaxes? 

10.  Summarize  each  paragraph  in  one  crisp  sentence. 
Use  your  own  words.  If  the  paragraphing  does  not  seem 
right  to  you,  change. 

11.  State  clearly  the  transitions  in  thought  from  para- 
graph to  paragraph. 

12.  Summarize  the  whole  selection  in  a  single  sentence  as 
brief  and  simple  as  possible. 

13.  Work  out  the  thought  movement,  or  thought 
chain,  in  your  own  words.  The  statement  should  make 
clear  the  relation  of  paragraph  to  paragraph,  sentence  to 
sentence,  contain  each  link  of  the  thought  and  preserve 
the  feeling  and  attitude  of  each  part. 

14.  By  means  of  what  associations,  illustrations, 
examples,  comparisons,  drawn  from  experience,  observa- 
tion and  study,  do  you  add  meaning,  reality  and  interest 
to  this  selection? 

15.  Exercise  the  imagination  upon  the  selection. 
Describe  the  principal  images  which  aid  you  in  making 
the  thought  more  intense,  life-like  and  objective. 

16.  What  is  the  dominant  feeling,  or  the  mood,  of  the 
selection.^ 

17.  Take  time  to  assimilate  the  selection.  Dwell  upon 
it,  not  listlessly,  but  with  vigorous  attention,  until  the 
thoughts  grow  clear  and  definite,  the  images  vivid,  and  the 
feeling   genuine. 

18.  Memorizing.  Do  not  memorize  the  words  before 
the  content  has  been  mastered.  To  memorize  first  is  to 
put  words  before  thought.  When  the  above  work  has 
been  carefully  done,  then  go  silently  through  the  thought 
movement;  then,  still  silently,  clothe  these  thoughts  with 
the  author's  words.  Then  say  the  words  aloud.  Hold 
the  thought  clearly  and  vigorously  in  mind  and  try  to 
express.  Let  the  thought  prompt  the  delivery.  Do  not 
at  this  stage  think  of  making  a  speech;  speak  as  to  a  single 
person.  Gradually  build  up  and  strengthen  to  fit  the 
needs  of  the  platform,  retaining  all  the  time  the  essential 
conversational  conditions:  1.  Thinking  at  the  moment 
of  delivery;     2.     The  sense  of  direct  communication. 

19.  Practice  much, — always  with  *  wide-awake  mind. 
Force  your  delivery  to  expressiveness  by  repeated  trials, 


168  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

accentuating  your  consciousness  of  the  meaning  and  enter- 
ing more  and  more  into  the  spirit  of  the  selection. 

If  you  do  not  find  the  process  of  memorizing  easy,  it 
will  probably  be  because  the  work  of  interpretation  and 
assimilation  has  not  been  sufficiently  well  done.  Professoi 
James  has  said  that  "The  art  of  remembering  is  the  art  of 
thinking;  and  when  we  wish  to  fix  a  new  thing  [in  memory], 
our  conscious  effort  should  not  be  so  much  to  impress  and 
retain  it  as  to  connect  it  with  something  else  already  there. 
The  connecting  is  the  thinking."  Of  course,  in  fixing  the 
precise  words,  a  definite  effort  to  impress  and  retain  may 
be  necessary;  although  surprisingly  little  effort  is  needed 
for  this  when  assimilation  is  thorough. 

If  you  have  trouble  in  making  your  delivery  expressive, 
the  cause  again  is  probably  lack  of  assimilation.  Go 
through  the  plan  of  study  more  carefully  and  the  result 
will  be  better.  Make  the  thought  your  thought,  the 
words  your  words. 

Explanations  and  Illustrations.  The  numerals  below  correspond  to 
those  of  the  scheme  of  study.    The  illustrations  are  from  Who's  to  Blame.' 

2.  Unfortunately  there  is  need  of  emphasis  upon  the  truth  that  no 
intelligent  man  should  permit  himself  to  speak  words  he  does  not  under- 
stand. Even  common  expressions,  such  as  public  duty,  will  bear  con- 
sideration. What  does  poolroom  mean,  as  used  in  the  Curtis  selection? 
Infidels?  Intrigue?  Books  of  literary  and  historical  references,  bio- 
graphical dictionaries  and  cyclopedias,  such  as  are  found  in  every  library, 
will  quickly  clear  up  many  obscure  matters.  A  good  dictionary'  should, 
of  course,  be  found  in  every  student's  room.  It  should  be  explained  here 
that  Jonathan  Wild  stands  for  William  H.  Tweed;  but  both  Wild  and 
Tweed  should  be  looked  up. 

3.  This  question  can  be  answered  conveniently  in  this  manner 
In  line  2..     vote  echoes  voting,  line  2. 

3,     political  duty  "  public  duty,  1. 1. 

5,     very  heart  "  essentially,  1.  3. 

Sentence  6,  amplifies  sentence  5. 

All  the  echoes,  etc.  which  have  any  appreciable  affect  upon  delivery, 
should  be  put  down,  however  formidable  the  array. 

4  and  5.  These  may  be  conveniently  answered  in  parallel  columns. 
Use  any  way  which  reveals  your  understanding  without  waste  of  words. 
Use  now  the  words  of  the  text,  and  now  translate. 

6.  The  last  word  is  given  simply  as  an  economical  way  of  answering. 

7.  The  expressions  supplied  are  not  to  be  spoken,  unless  they  seem  to 


STUDY  OF  SELECTIONS  169 

improve  the  composition.  The  student  will  recall  that  this  and  most  of 
the  other  questions  are  explained  in  Chapter  II  and  III.  In  the  Curtis 
selection  imagine  the  questions  and  other  responses  a  man  who  thinks 
himself  a  good  citizen  might  make,  as,  for  example,  after  the  third  sen- 
tence, "What  should  I  do?"  In  speaking  of  the  Pharisee,  one  gets  the 
flavor  of  the  allusion  by  thinking,  "You  remember  the  one  in  the  parable 
of  the  two  men  who  went  up  into  the  temple  to  pray."  (See  Luke  18:10.) 
I  do  not  mean  that  this  necessarily  takes  the  form  of  words  as  one  speaks, 
but  that  something  like  it  must  lie  in  the  "fringe  of  consciousness,"  if 
one  is  to  catch  the  right  turn;  for,  notice,  this  is  a  particular  Pharisee. 
At  the  end  of  sentence  9  may  be  thought,  "two  grand  rascals,"  or,  "no 
choice  at  all."  The  difficulties  of  10  are  lessened  by  thinking,  "what  an 
absm-dity!"  and  "Think  of  it,  Diddler  a  reformer!"  Sentence  14  is  like 
this  to  me:  "To  say  that  in  this  country  the  rogues  must  rule  [as  you 
do],  is  to  defy  history  [as  I  have  just  shown  you]  and  [what  is  vastly 
more  important  to  a  genuine  American]  to  despair  of  the  Republic. 
jDon't  you  see  what  your  defense  amounts  to?]"  By  holding  in  mind 
these  unexpressed  ideas  one  gets  their  effect  in  his  voice. 

10.  Be  sure  you  catch  the  essential  rather  than  some  incidental  idea, 
and  give  the  true  point  of  view.  Make  your  summaries  crisp  enough  to 
carry  easily  in  mind.     Do  not  put  here  what  belongs  in  question  13. 

11.  This  question  is  a  severe  test  of  understanding.  Do  not  catch  at 
some  trivial  link.  In  the  Curtis  selection,  what  question  is  raised  in  the 
first  paragraph  that  is  answered  in  the  second? 

12.  In  this  selection  the  summary  should  turn  on  the  question  of 
Whose  fault. 

13.  One  preparing  a  selection  should  go  over  the  thought,  expressing 
it  very  fully,  several  times.  He  should  use  his  own  words  to  make  sure 
he  is  getting  at  the  content,  not  merely  the  author's  words. 

14  and  15.  We  may  illustrate  further  here  what  has  been  explained  in 
Chapters  III  and  IV.  The  work  of  14  and  15  is  of  the  highest  importance 
to  assimilation.  After  gaining  an  understanding  of  the  meaning  of  the 
words  before  you,  you  may  proceed  by  a  process  not  altogether  unlike 
that  you  would  have  gone  through  had  you  written  the  selection  yourself. 
The  Curtis  selection  treats  of  political  duty  and  political  corruption. 
Our  author  refers  to  concrete  instances  and  these  form  associations  for  the 
ideas;  but  you  are  not  limited  to  these.  You  have  gone  through  political 
campaigns.  First-hand  knowledge  is  best.  Then  you  have  heard  and 
read  of  politics  local,  state  and  national;  you  have  knowledge  of  condi- 
tions in  various  cities.  New  York,  Philadelphia,  San  Francisco;  certain 
leaders  and  bosses  are  familiar  from  pictures  and  cartoons;  you  know 
something  of  various  reform   movements,   direct  noininations,   short 


170  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

ballots,  commission  form  of  city  government,  municipal  leagues,  and  the 
like.  All  this  you  bring  out  of  memory,  or  as  much  as  has  any  bearing 
on  your  selection,  and  by  means  of  it  you  begin  to  assimilate  your  speech. 

Very  likely  your  knowledge  is  limited  and  vague.  You  can  continue 
your  work  by  reading  and  by  conversation  with  those  who  have  more 
information  and  experience.  As  your  selection  refers  to  the  Tweed 
regime  in  New  York  City,  you  will  look  that  up  especially.  Some  of 
the  possible  sources  are  the  report  prepared  by  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  Myers's 
History  of  Tammany  Hall,  the  second  volume  of  Bryce's  American 
Commonicealth,  the  files  of  the  papers  of  the  period,  (about  1872),  say 
Harper's  Weekly,  then  edited  by  George  ^Yilliam  Curtis  and  illustrated 
with  Nast's  famous  Tammany  cartoons.  Accounts  of  later  struggles  in 
New  Y^ork  and  in  other  ring-ruled  cities  will  give  a  more  present-day 
aspect  to  the  subject. 

Make  your  work  specific.  It  is  of  little  use  to  go  over  things  in  the 
general  way  I  have  above.  If  the  idea  of  direct  nominations  is  to  be  of 
service,  you  must  run  it  out  far  enough  to  see  clearly  how  it  affects  the 
problem  of  "shaping  the  alternative."  A  general  notion  that  there  has 
been  corruption  in  San  Francisco  will  be  of  but  the  slightest  value. 

The  first  sentence  is  very  simple;  but  what  does  public  duty  mean  to 
you.^  Run  this  abstraction  out  into  concrete  details.  To  do  so  here 
would  take  undue  space;  but  I  mean  that  this  should  be  done  very 
specifically,  taking  account  of  the  responsibilities  that  rest  upon  a  citizen 
of  a  republic,  with  special  reference  to  the  duty  of  selecting  officials. 
You  can  see  citizens  going  about  their  duties,  rallying  voters  to  the 
primaries,  interviewing,  WTiting  letters,  making  speeches,  forming  clubs, 
or  working  in  any  other  tangible  ways.  You  see  also  certain  sleek 
self-satisfied  citizens  who  do  nothing  but  vote  on  election  day.  Plainly 
that  is  not  enough;  not  even  if  they  take  great  pains  to  go  and  vote, 
as  is  the  case  with  this  man  who  goes  all  the  way  from  New  York  to 
Chicago,  leaving  important  business,  just  to  vote.  Y'ou  may  seem  to 
see  these  men  as  real  persons,  men  you  know,  or  as  typical  citizens.  Let 
them  be  tall  or  short,  fat  or  lean,  dressed  so  and  so;  that  is,  vividly 
conceived   persons. 

You  may  seem  to  talk  with  them.  To  make  the  point  clearer,  you 
draw  an  analogy  from  the  religious  field,  in  which  the  evils  of  formalism 
are  well  recognized;  and  you  choose  a  familiar  figure,  the  Pharisee  of 
Luke  xviii.  Look  this  gentleman  up,  but  do  not  catch  the  WTong  sugges- 
tion. For  us  it  is  formalism,  not  hypocrisy.  (In  the  last  sentence  of 
the  selection  we  are  more  strongly  impressed  with  the  self-righteousness 
of  the  Pharisee.)  "But  why  do  you  call  us  political  Pharisees.^"  demand 
the  indignant  citizens.     "Don't  you  see — the  'doubtful  alternative'.'" 


STUDY  OF  SELECTIONS  171 

you  explain.  "You  may  have  only  a  choice  between  two  rascals,  between 
John  Doe,  the  paid  tool  of  the  public  service  corporations,  and  Richard 
Roe,  the  coarse  grafter."  "But  what  should  we  do.''"  ask  the  citizens. 
"Help  choose  the  candidates,  go  to  the  primaries;  nay,  go  to  work  before 
the  primaries,  each  doing  something  to  secure  at  least  one  good  candi- 
date." And  so  on.  This  is  only  a  hint  of  what  may  be  done.  It  is 
not  an  attempt  to  say  just  what  should  come  into  your  mind.  Each 
mind  will  differ  from  all  others. 

The  scene  about  the  polls  is  peculiarly  open  to  the  work  of  imagination. 
It  is  a  little  drama;  and  most  students  fail  to  "get  into"  this  part, 
because  they  do  not  go  beyond  matter-of-fact.  Let  us  stand  and  watch 
near  the  polling  place  in  a  corrupt  district.  Banners  bearing  the  party 
slogans  are  stretched  across  the  street.  Dodgers  are  thrust  into  our  hands 
and  we  read,  "Vote  for  Diddler  and  Reform!"  A  worker  eagerly  whispers 
to  us,  "Vote  for  good  old  honest  Dick!  He  is  none  of  your  snivelling 
reformers;  he  won't  interfere  with  the  boys."  Up  an  alley  we  see  a 
worker  bargaining  for  votes  at  two  dollars  apiece;  while  down  the  street 
comes  a  dive-keeper  with  a  drove  of  drunken  loafers  he  has  kept  in  his 
back  room  all  night, — all  out  to  vote  for  Diddler  and  reform.  Our 
friend,  the  honest  and  respectable  citizen,  steps  from  his  carriage  on  his 
way  down  town,  intent  on  doing  his  full  political  duty.  He  seems  a  bit 
shocked  at  the  sights  and  the  men  who  greet  him, — "plug  uglies"  with 
flashy  clothes,  tall  hats,  glass  diamonds  and  long  black  cigars.  Still, 
it  is  what  he  is  used  to;  he  has  always  left  the  "dirty  work"  of  polities 
to  "the  boys."  As  he  takes  his  ballot  with  a  somewhat  gingerly  air,  wc 
hurl  at  him,  "Don't  forget  your  indifference  is  to  blame  for  this  shocking 
choice!"  And  we  quote  mockingly,  "Vote  for  'Turpin  and  honesty!'  or, 
if  you  prefer,  try  'Diddler  and  reform!'  " 

The  rest  of  the  speech  may  be  worked  out  as  a  trial,  with  an  indictment, 
a  plea,  analysis  of  the  evidence  and  final  condemnation.  Of  course, 
this  must  not  be  pressed  too  far;  but  it  helps  to  bring  out  the  thought 
movement.  The  last  sentence  is  a  good  example  of  how  imagination 
may  help.  Students  usually  rattle  this  off  without  discrimination  of 
parts,  and  either  indifferently  or  with  mere  loudness.  Let  the  student 
put  himself  in  the  place  of  one  who  is  out  working  to  defeat  the  renomina- 
tion  of  a  grafting  alderman.  He  goes  to  a  friend  to  ask  his  help.  But  he 
finds  his  friend  sitting  before  a  cheerful  fire  reading,  blissfully  uncon- 
scious that  there  is  anything  to  be  done.  Even  when  told,  he  is  indiffer- 
ent. "Why  so  excited.^"  he  asks.  "Sit  down  and  have  a  chat."  Our 
worker  urges  and  his  friend  is  driven  to  excuses.  He  wraps  his  snobbish 
respectability  about  him  and  says  it  is  no  work  for  a  gentleman.  Pressed 
further,  he  begins  to  believe  in  his  own  excuses  and,  degenerating  still 


172  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

further  in  his  citizenship,  he  says,  "I  half  believe  this  government  is  only 
the  rule  of  a  mob  anyhow."  Then  quite  convinced,  he  acids,  "Between 
you  and  me.  I  hope  we  shall  soon  be  rid  of  it;  what  we  want  is  a  vigorous 
despot."  A  man  of  earnest  purpose  who  found  himself  confronted  by 
such  a  citizen  would  surely  wish  to  kick  him;  and  that  feeling  is  what 
the  speaker  needs. 

Use  these,  and  any  other  means,  of  thinking  and  feehng 
yourself  into  the  selection;  and  you  will  find  that  what 
you  may  have  thought  you  fully  understood  at  first  read- 
ing, will  become  vastly  more  significant.  It  may  come  to 
mean  as  much  to  you  as  to  its  author;  indeed,  it  may  mean 
more  to  you.  He  has  furnished  you  with  a  suggestive 
form  of  words;  what  their  content  shall  be  depends 
largely  upon  you. 

I  append  here  three  selections  which  have  been  very 
severely  tested  in  the  class  room.  They  present  a  consider- 
able variety  of  style  and  of  problems.  A  student  who 
masters  the  delivery  of  these  should  be  equal  to  anything. 
He  will  certainly  find  that  he  has  grown.  But  remember 
that  the  mere  declaiming  of  them  without  assimilation  will 
do  harm. 

WHO  IS  TO  BLAME? 

From  The  Public  Duty  of  Educated  Men, 
By  George  William  Curtis 

1  I.     1.  Public  duty  in  this  country  is  not  discharged, 

2  as  is  often  supposed,  by  voting.     2.  A  man  may  vote 

3  regularly,  and  still  fail  essentially  of  his  political  duty, 

4  as  the  Pharisee  who  gave  tithes  of  all  that  he  possessed, 

5  and  fasted  three  times  in  the  week,  yet  lacked  the  very 

6  heart  of  religion.     3.  When  an  American  citizen  is 

7  content  with  voting  merely,  he  consents  to  accept  what 

8  is  often  a  doubtful  alternative.     4.  His  first  duty  is  to 

9  help    shape    the    alternative.     5.  This,    which    was 

10  formerly  less  necessary,  is  now  indispensable.     6.  In  a 

11  rural  community  such  as  this  country  was  a  hundred 

12  years  ago,  whoever  was  nominated  for  office  was  known 

13  to  his  neighbors,  and  the  consciousness  of  that  knowl- 


STUDY  OF  SELECTIONS  173 

14  edge   was    a   conservative    influence    in    determining 

15  nominations.     7.  But  in  the  local  elections  of  the  great 

16  cities  of  to-day,  elections  that  control  taxation  and 

17  expenditure,  the  mass  of  the  voters  vote  in  absolute 

18  ignorance  of  the  candidates.     8.  The  citizen  who  sup- 

19  poses  that  he  does  all  his  duty  when  he  votes,  places  a 

20  premium  upon  political  knavery.     9.  Thieves  welcome 

21  him  to  the  polls  and  offer  him  a  choice,  which  he  has 
2?  done  no.:hing  to  prevent,  between  Jeremy  Diddler  and 

23  Dick  Turpin.     10.  The  party  cries,  for  which  he  is 

24  responsible,  are  "Turpin  and  Honesty!"  "Diddler  and 

25  Reform!"     11.  And  Mnthin  a  few  years,  as  a  result  of 

26  this  indifference  to  the  details  of  public  duty,  the  m.ost 

27  powerful  politician  in  the  Empire  State  of  the  Union 

28  was  Jonathan  Wild  the  Great,  the  captain  of  a  band  of 

29  plunderers.     12.  I  know  it  is  said  that  the  knaves  have 

30  taken  the  honest  men  in  a  net,  and  have  contrived 

31  machinery  which  "wiW  inevitably  grind  only  the  grist 

32  of  rascals.     13.  The  answer  is,  that  when  honest  men 

33  did  once  what  they  ought  to  do  always,  the  thieves 

34  were  netted  and  their  machine  was  broken.     14.  To 

35  say  that  in  this  country  the  rogues  must  rule,  is  to 

36  defy  history  and  to  despair  of  the  republic. 

37  II.     15.  If  ignorance  and  corruption  and  intrigue 

38  control  the  primary  meeting,  and  manage  the  conven- 

39  tion,  and  dictate  the  nomination,  the  fault  is  in  the 

40  honest   and   intelligent   workshop   and   office,   in   the 

41  library  and  the  parlor,  in  the  church  and  the  school. 

42  16.  When  they  are  as  constant  and  faithful  to  their 

43  pohtical  rights  as  the  slums  and  the  grog.shops,  the 

44  pool-rooms    and    the    kennels;     when   the   educated, 

45  industrious,  temperate,  thrifty  citizens  are  as  zealous 

46  and  prompt  and  unfailing  in  political  activity  as  the 

47  ignorant  and  venal  and  mischievous,  or  when  it  is  plain 

48  that  they  cannot  be  roused  to  their  duty,  then,  but  not 

49  until  then — if  ignorance  and  corruption  always  carry 

50  the  day — there  can  be  no  honest  question  that  the 

51  republic  has  failed.  17.     But  let  us  not  be  deceived. 

52  18.  While  good  men  sit  at  home,  not  knowing  that 

53  there  is  anything  to  be  done,  nor  caring  to  know; 

54  cultivating  a  feeling  that  politics  are  tiresome  and  dirty, 

55  and  politicians,  vulgar  bullies  and  bravoes;  half  per- 


174  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

56  suaded  that  a  republic  is  the  contemptible  rule  of  a 

57  mob,  and  secretly  longing  for  a  splendid  and  vigorous 

58  despotism— then  remember,  it   is  not   a  government 

59  mastered  by  ignorance,  it  is  a  government  betrayed 

60  by  intelligence;  it  is   not  the  victory  of  the  slums,  it  is 

61  the  surrender  of  the  schools;  it  is  not  that  bad  men  are 

62  bra^'e,  but  that  good  men  are  infidels  and  cowards. 

A  LIBERAL  EDUCATION^ 

From  Lay  Sermons,  Addresses,  and  Reviews,  by  Thomas  Huxley 

1  I.     1.  Suppose  it  were  perfectly  certain  that  the  life 

2  and  fortune  of  evers^  one  of  us  would,  one  day  or  other, 

3  depend  upon  his  winning  or  losing  a  game  at  chess. 

4  2.  Don't  you  think  we  should  all  consider  it  a  primary 

5  duty  to  learn  at  least  the  names  and  the  moves  of  the 

6  pieces;    to  have  a  notion  of  a  gambit,  and  a  keen  eye 

7  for  all  the  means  of  giving  and  getting  out  of  a  check? 

8  3.  Do  you  not  think  we  should  look  with  a  disappro- 

9  bation  amounting  to  scorn,  upon  a  father  who  allowed 

10  his  son,  or  the  state  which  allowed  its  members,  to 

11  grow  up  without  knowing  a  pawTi  from  a  knight? 

12  II.     4.  Yet  it  is  a  very  plain  and  elementary  truth, 

13  that  the  life,  that  the  fortune,  and  the  happiness  of 

14  every  one  of  us,  and,  more  or  less,  of  those  who  are 

15  connected   \^'ith    us,    do    depend   upon   our   knoAAing 

16  something  of  the  rules  of  a  game  infinitely  more  diffi- 

17  cult  and   complicated  than  chess.     5.  It  is   a   game 

18  which  has  been  played  for  untold  ages,  every  man  and 

19  woman  of  us  being  one  of  the  two  players  in  a  game  of 

20  his   or  her  own.     6.  The   chess-board   is  the   world, 

21  the  pieces  are  the  phenomena  of  the  universe,  the  rules 

22  of  the  game  are  what  we  call  the  laws  of  Nature. 

23  7.  The  player  on  the  other  side  is  hidden  from  us. 

24  8.  We  know  that  his  play  is  always  fair,  just  and 

25  patient.     9.  But  also  we  know,  to  our  cost,  that  he 

26  never   overlooks   a   mistake,    or   makes   the   smallest 

27  allowance  for  ignorance.     10.  To  the  man  who  plays 

28  well,  the  highest  stakes  are  paid,  with  that  sort  of 
^This   selection   as   a  whole  is   not    unified.     It   is  best  used  as  two 

selections.     The  first  three  paragraphs  form  one  unit  and  the  remaining 
two  another. 


STUDY  OF  SELECTIONS  175 

29  overflowing  generosity  with  which  the  strong  shows 

30  dehght   in   strength.     11.  And   one  who   plays   ill    is 

31  checkmated — without  haste,  but  without  remorse. 

32  III.     12.  Well,  what  I  mean  by  Education  is  learn- 

33  ing   the    rules    of    this    mighty    game.     13.  In    other 

34  words,  education  is  the  instruction  of  the  intellect  in 

35  the  laws  of  Nature,  under  which  name  I  include  not 

36  merely  things  and  their  forces,  but  men  and  their  ways; 

37  and  the  fashioning  of  the  affections  and  of  the  will  into 

38  an  earnest  and  loving  desire  to  move  in  harmony  mth 

39  those  laws. 

40  IV.     14.  That  man,  I  think,  has  a  liberal  education, 

41  who  has  been  so  trained  in  his  youth  that  his  body  is 

42  the  ready  servant  of  his  will,  and  does  with  ease  and 

43  pleasure  all  the  work  that,  as  a  mechanism,  it  is  capable 

44  of;   whose  intellect  is  a  clear,  cold,  logic  engine,  with  all 

45  its  parts  of  equal  strength,  and  in  smooth  working 

46  order;   ready,  like  a  steam  engine,  to  be  turned  to  any 

47  kind  of  work,  and  spin  the  gossamers  as  well  as  forge 

48  the  anchors  of  the  mind;   whose  mind  is  stored  with  a 

49  knowledge  of  the  great  and  fundamental  truths  of 

50  Nature  and  of  the  laws  of  her  operations;  one  who,  no 

51  stunted  ascetic,  is  full  of  life  and  fire,  but  whose  pas- 

52  sions  are  trained  to  come  to  heel  by  a  vigorous  will, 

53  the  servant  of  a  tender  conscience;    who    has  learned 

54  to  love  all  beauty,  whether  of  nature  or  of  art,  to  hate 

55  all  vileness,  and  to  respect  others  as  himself. 

56  V.     15.  Such. an  one,  and  no  other,  I  conceive,  has 

57  had  a  liberal  education;    for  he  is,  as  completely  as  a 

58  man  can  be,  in  harmony  with  Nature.     16.  He  will 

59  make  the  best  of  her,  and  she  of  him.     17.  They  will 

60  get  on  together  rarely;    she    as  his  ever  beneficent 

61  mother;  he  as  her  mouth-piece,  her  conscious  self,  her 

62  minister  and  interpreter. 

AWAIT  THE  ISSUE 

Adapted  from  Carlyle's  Past  and  Present 

1  I.     In   this    God's-world,    with   its   wild,    whirling 

2  eddies  and  mad,  foam  oceans,  where  men  and  nations 

3  perish  as  if  without  law,  and  judgment  for  an  unjust 

4  thing  is  sternly  delayed,  dost  thou  think  that  there  is 


176  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

5  therefore  no  justice?     It  is  what  the  fool  hath  said  in 

6  his  heart.     It  is  what  the  wise,  in  all  times,  were  wise 

7  because  they  denied  and  knew  forever  not  to  be.     I 

8  tell  thee  there  is  nothing  else  but  justice.     One  strong 

9  thing  I  find  here  below:   the  just  thing,  the  true  thing. 

10  II.     My  friend,  if  thou  hadst  all  the  artillery  of 

11  Woolwich  trundling  at  thy  back  in  suppo.-t  of  an  unjust 

12  thing,  and  infinite  bonfires  visibly  waiting  ahead  of 

13  thee  to  blaze  centuries  long  for  the  victory  on  behalf  of 

14  it,  I  would  advise  thee  to  call  halt,  to  fling  down  thy 

15  baton  and  sav,  "In  heaven's  name,  no!" 

16  III.     Thy   "success?"     Poor  devil,   what  will  thy 

17  success  amount  to?   If  the  thing  is  unjust,  thou  hast 

18  not  succeeded;    no,  not  though  bonfires  blazed  from 

19  north  to  south,  and  bells  rang,  and  editors  wrote  lead- 

20  ing  articles,  and  the  just  things  lay  trampled  out  of 

21  sight, — to  all  mortal  eyes  an  abolished  and  annihilated 

22  thing 

23  IV.     For  it  is  the  right  and  noble  alone  that  will 

24  have  victory  in  this  struggle;    the  rest  is  wholly  an 

25  obstruction,  a  postponement,  a  fearful  imperilment,  of 

26  the  victory.     Towards  an  eternal  center  of  right  and 

27  nobleness,  and  of  that  only,  is  all  confusion  tending. 

28  We  already  know  whither  it  is  all  tending;   what  v^ill 

29  have  victory,  what  will  have  none!     The  heaviest  will 

30  reach  the  center.     The  heaviest  has  its  deflections; 

31  its    obstructions;     nay,    at   times    its    resiliences,    its 

32  reboundings,  whereupon  some  blockhead  shall  be  heard 

33  jubilating,   "See,  your  heaviest  ascends!"   but  at  all 

34  moments  it  is  moving  centerward,  fast  as  is  convenient 

35  for  it;    sinking,  sinking;    and,  by  laws  older  than  the 

36  world,  old  as  the  Maker's  first  plan  of  the  world,  it 

37  has  to  arrive  there. 

38  V.     Await  the  issue.     In  all  battles,  if  you  await  the 

39  issue,    each   fighter   has   prospered   according   to   his 

40  right.     His  right  and  his  might,  at  the  close  of  the 

41  account,  were  one  and  the  same.     He  has  fought  with 

42  all  his  might,  and  in  exact  proportion  to  all  his  right  he 

43  has  prevailed.     His  very  death  is  no  victory  over  him. 

44  He  dies  indeed;    but  his  work  lives,  very  truly  lives. 

45  VI.     An  heroic  Wallace,  quartered  on  the  scaffold, 


STUDY  OF  SELECTIONS  177 

46  cannot  hinder  that  his  Scotland  become,  one  day,  a 

47  part  of  England;   but  he  does  hinder  that  it  become, 

48  on  tyrannous  terms,  a  part  of  it;    commands  still,  as 

49  with  a  god's  voice,  from  his  old  Valhalla  and  Temple  of 

50  the  brave,  that  there  be  a  just,  real  union  as  of  brother 

51  and  brother,  not  a  false  and  merely  semblant  one  as 

52  of  slave  and  master.     If  the  union  with  England  be  in 

53  fact  one  of  Scotland's  chief  blessings,  w?  thank  Wallace 

54  withal  that  it  was  not  the  chief  curse 

55  VII.     Fight  on,  thou  brave,  true  heart;   and  falter 

56  not,  through  dark  fortune  and  through  bright.     The 

57  cause  thou  fightest  for,  so  far  as  it  is  true,  no  further, 

58  yet  precisely   so  fa.',   is   very   sure   of   victory.     The 

59  falsehood    alone    of    it    will    be    conquered,    will  be 

60  abolished,  as  it  ought  to  be;  but  the  ti'uch  of  it  is  part 

61  of  Nature'^  own  laws,  co-operates  with  the  world'a 

62  eternal  tendencies,  and  cannot  be  conquered. 


CHAPTER  X 

ATTENTION    OF    THE   AUDIENCE — INTEREST 

Turning  now  to  the  more  definite  consideration  of 
audiences  and  the  adaptation  of  speeches  to  their  needs 
and  capacities,  we  shall,  in  great  }3art,  be  developing  and 
re-applying  principles  already  familiar  in  the  preceding 
pages.  Plainly  enough,  in  dealing  with  audiences  interest 
and  attention  are  of  primary'  importance;  yet  you  may 
be  surprised  to  learn  how  constantly  these  are  the  major 
considerations. 

No  classification  of  topics  in  this  discussion  seems 
entirely  satisfactory^;  but  we  shall  find  most  helpful  an 
analysis  based  upon  the  speaker's  purposes.  A  suflScient 
reason  is  the  opportunity  this  analysis  offers  for  emphasiz- 
ing the  fact  that  speakers  have  purposes. 

Importance  of  Considering  the  Speaker's  Purposes. 
Much  poor  work  is  done  because  the  real  purposes  of 
public  speech  are  forgotten,  while  primary^  stress  is  placed 
upon  form.  Form  needs  attention,  but  it  can  be  safely 
studied  only  in  subordination  to  purpose.  Strange  as  it 
may  seem,  the  audience  is  often  forgotten.  The  results  are 
affectation  and  ineffectiveness.  We  must  think  of  form 
always  as  a  means  to  an  end, — the  impression  desired  upon 
the  audience. 

But  the  trouble  does  not  always  arise  from  too  much 
attention  to  form;  it  maj^  exist  together  with  too  great 
indifference  to  form.  Self-centeredness  is  perhaps  the 
chief  reason  for  indifference  to  audiences.  One  who  has 
occasion  to  observe  is  often  astounded  at  the  indifference 
of  speakers  to  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  their  hearers. 
Presumably  these  speakers  have  a  hazy  purpose;  but 
completely  wrapped  up  in  their  own  processes,  intolerant 

178 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  179 

of  the  opinions  of  others,  lacking  sufficient  imagination  for 
a  sympathetic  understanding  of  the  kinds  and  conditions 
of  men  and  of  the  motives  which  move  them,  they  go  their 
own  way  unaware  of  response  or  lack  of  response.  Some- 
times we  say  their  speeches  "smell  of  the  lamp,"  but  the 
trouble  is  not  that  they  have  studied,  but  that  they  have 
failed  to  prepare  with  definite  purposes  and  audiences  in 
mind.  If  a  speaker  keeps  clearly  in  mind  that  he  is  going 
before  a  certain  kind  of  audience  to  seek  certain  results, 
the  chances  are  good  that  he  will  make  a  proper  selection 
and  arrangement  of  material,  adopt  a  style  of  composition 
suitable  for  the  platform  and  speak  in  a  direct  manner. 

The  young  speaker  should  take  this  exhortation  to  mind  his  audience 
very  seriously.  He  is  prone  to  think  that  his  hearers  will  understand 
whatever  he  says,  however  complicated;  that  they  have  no  emotions, 
and  that  they  will  attend  simply  because  he  speaks.  He  rarely  considers 
the  best  method  of  approach  or  of  awakening  interest.  From  the  very 
first  he  should  treat  his  class,  if  he  is  in  a  class,  as  a  real  audience,  to  be 
interested,  convinced  and  persuaded;  and  the  class  should  listen  as  a  real 
audience,  not  as  a  body  of  critics.  The  student  should  also  embrace 
opportunities  to  speak  before  other  audiences,  where  the  thought  of 
manner  will  not  be  so  prominent  and  where  he  may  have  a  more  real 
purpose  to  accomplish. 

There  may  be  some  with  an  almost  instinctive  knowledge  of  the  nature 
of  audiences.  These,  if  sufficiently  endowed  otherwise,  are  the  "born 
orators."  But  most  of  us  need  to  work  out  of  our  embarrassment,  our 
self-centeredness  and  oar  false  notions,  till  there  some  day  comes  to  us  a 
sense  of  what  speaking  really  means.  Then  by  study  of  human  nature 
and  by  practice,  we  may  learn  to  influence  audiences.  If  through  pleni- 
tude of  endowment,  persistent  labor  and  right  opportunity,  we  come  to 
master  audiences,  we  shall  be  orators. 

What  the  Speaker's  Purposes  are.  I  shall  consider 
thelspeaker's  purposes  to  be:  J..  To  interedy  %.  To  mqjce 
deary  S^  To  induce  belief,  4.  To  influence  conduct.  \  Now 
any  one  of  these  purposes  may  be  a  speaker's  final  object 
on  a  given  occasion;  or  may  be  a  subsidiary  purpose,  a 
means  to  another  end.  Thus  interest  and  clearness  must 
be  sought  in  any  speech.     In  many  instances  belief  must 


180  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

be  won  before  action  can  be  secured,  and  we  shall  find  that 
in  most  cases  the  processes  by  which  action  is  secured  must 
be  employed  before  belief  is  established.  x'Vgain,  exposi- 
tion and  argument  may  be  employed  to  interest. 

Interesting  an  Audience.  It  seems  strange  that  there 
is  need  of  putting  stress  upon  the  necessity  of  interesting 
our  audiences;  yet  we  well  know  how  common  it  is  in 
conversation  to  talk  on  about  our  affairs,  our  ideas,  our 
stupid  adventures,  our  smart  children,  calmly  ignoring 
the  yawns  of  our  hearers.  This  may  explain  why  a  stu- 
dent speaker  will  expound  in  detail  before  a  class  of  juniors 
the  peculiar  advantages  accruing  to  freshman  from  sub- 
scribing to  the  college  daily. 

I  An  audience  always  holds  it  a  natural  right  to  be  inter- 
ested; often  it  asks  nothing  morej  The  speaker  him.self 
may  at  times  have  no  purpose  beyond  interesting;  that 
is,  entertainment.^  More  often  the  speaker  has  a  purpose 
beyond  this;  butj  the  demand  for  interest  he  must  satisfy, 
for  he  must  have  attention.;  A  "polite  hearing"  is  rarely 
genuine;  and  very  few  members  of  the  average  audience 
will  listen  by  sheer  will  power,  nor  is  it  desirable  that  they 
should.  Applying  Herbert  Spencer's  principle,  "economy 
of  attention,"  a  speaker  should  aim  to  hold  his  hearers 
with  a  minimum  of  effort  on  their  part;  for  whatever 
energy  goes  into  mere  effort  to  attend  is  lost  to  considera- 
tion of  the  subject-matter. 

Another  reason  for  seeking  to  interest  is  that  few  speakers  are  able  to 
go  energetically  through  a  speech  without  evidences  of  response  from 
their  audience.  Without  such  evidence  one  feels  a  great  load  on  his 
spirits.  It  is  sometimes  worth  while  to  take  pains  to  interest  a  single  per- 
son in  order  to  have  his  sympathetic  following;    but  unless  a  speaker 

^Entertainment  has  been  made  one  of  the  general  ends,  and  is  an  end 
proper  enough.  Phillips,  w^ho  makes  this  classification  (EJfeciive  Speak- 
ing, p.  63),  treats  it  only  with  the  "factors  of  interestingness."  Interest 
is,  of  course,  a  much  larger  thing  than  entertainment.  AYhen  we  are 
interested  in  a  pleasant  way,  with  no  serious  purpose  impressed  upon 
us,  we  say  we  are  entertained;  but  we  may  be  interested  in  the  most 
serious,  even  unpleasant,  things. 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  181 

has  a  majority  of  his  audience  following  with  easy  attention,  he  cannot 
often  do  well.  When  practically  the  whole  audience  listens  with  keen 
interest  he  is  drawn  out  in  a  wonderful  way.     Then  he  has  "liberty." 

There  are  times  when  the  speaker  has  the  advantage  of 
an  aroused  interest  in  his  audience.  There  are  times  when 
he  can  rely  on  this  interest,  even  abuse  it ;  but  such  times 
are  rare,  and  even  strong  initial  interest  is  usually  easily 
lost.  I  have  seen  2000  eager  listeners,  come  together  to 
hear  a  potential  presidential  candidate,  bored  into  helpless 
irritation  by  an  inept  address.  The  young  speaker  will 
find  few  occasions  indeed  when  he  can  safely  ignore  the 
means  of  interesting. 

The  speaker  standing  before  his  audience  faces  a  very 
practical  problem:  How  can  he  gain  and  hold  attention? 
No  matter  how  noble  his  purpose,  how  splendid  his  rhetoric, 
how  sound  his  arguments,  if  he  is  not  listened  to.  ■  There 
they  sit,lhis  potential  hearers;  presumably  most  of  them 
are  willing  to  be  interested;  but  unless  they  are  interested, 
they  will  think  of  their  own  affairs,  sink  into  bored 
endurance,  or  become  restless.  The  speaker  must  grip 
their  attention,  right  at  the  start,  and  he  must  hold  it. 

How  can  Attention  be  Won?  In  the  first  place,  it  does 
little  good  to  tell  one's  audience  that  the  theme  is  interest- 
ing. Young  speakers  are  constantly  defending  their  dull 
efforts  with,  "They  ought  to  be  interested  in  that";  but 
the  question  remains,  Are  they  interested?  It  is  only 
the  speaker  of  high  prestige  with  his  audience  who  can 
depend  upon  the  assertion  of  interest,  even  for  initial 
attention. 

We  see  at  once  that  the  question,  What  does  interest 
audiences,  is  too  complicated  for  brief  and  final  answer. 
We  can,  nevertheless,  establish  a  few  principles  and  become 
intelligent  in  applying  them  to^  different  situations.  Th.e 
most  obvious  suggestion  is  that  we  should  have  something 
to  say  worth  saying;  \  something  not  necessarily  of  vital 


182  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

importance,  but  at  least  worth  considering  for  a  few 
moments.  The  occasions  are  but  few  when  audiences  are 
wilHng  to  Hsten  to  sheer  nonsense. 

Fundamental  Interests,  pertain  interests  common  to 
most  men,  may  be  noted.  jWhen  we  speak  of  a  man's 
interests  we  mean  those  things  to  which  he  gives  his  time, 
thought  and  labor;  not  merely  those  things  directly  neces- 
sary to  existence  and  success,  but  also  those,  which  give  him 
pleasure,  or  otherwise  enlist  his  emotions]  /We  put  first 
life  and  health.  The  vast  deal  of  matter  prmted  nowadays 
'  on  health  presumably  supplies  a  demand .  But  it  is  probable 
that  r  men  in  general  are  more  willing  to  give  attention  . 
to  the  acquirement  of  property  than  to  prolonging  life.  J 
The  pocket-book  interest  is  one  of  the  surest  to  which  a 
theme  can  be  linked.  This  interest  is  not  limited  to  one's 
own  pocket-book,  but  extends  to  all  business.  Witness 
the  number  of  business  stories  in  popular  periodicals. 

INIen  generally  are  interested  in  the  means  of  acquiring 
power  and  reputation.  ^  But  there  are  some  who  are  still 
more  interested  in  what  pertainsVto  honor,  to  social  welfare, 
to  the  good  of  country  and  to  righteousness.  Again,  men 
are  interested\  in  what  touches  their  affections, las  the  edu- 
cation of  their  children.  They  are  interested  in  all  that 
gives  iheiA^l^asiire,  as  sports,  music,  drama,  literature. 
Un  short,  men  are  interested  in  what^verthey^re  interested 
irr,  whatever  arouses  emotion;  and  the  most  valuable 
suggestion  is  one  which  will  gtow  increasingly  familiar: 
study  human  nature,  study  your  audience.  The  chief  use 
of  such  an  incomplete  list  as  the  above,  is  to  impress  upon 
the  self-centered  speaker  the  truth  that  men  are  many- 
sided  in  their  interests.^ 

The  Human  Interest.  Carlyle  says:  "Man  is  peren- 
nially interesting  to  man;    nay,  if  we  look  strictly  to  it, 

^Those  familiar  with  Phillips'  Effective  Speaking  will  see  that  I  have 
drawn  here  upon  his  Impelling  Motives. 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  183 

there  is  nothing  else  interesting."  Terence,  the  old 
Roman  playwright,  brought  forth  thunderous  applause 
vdih.  his  line,  "I  am  a  man,  and  all  human  affairs  are  of 
interest  to  me."  The  interest  of  humanity  pervades,  of 
course,  history,  fiction,  drama,  social  science,  and  many 
another  interest;  but  still  it  is  well  to  note  that  there  is  a 
strong  interest  in  just  **folks," — men,  women,  children 
and  babies.  Personality  is  always  interesting.  So  a 
speaker  may  find  it  of  advantage  to  throw  his  material 
into  terms  of  persons,  persons  with  names  and  characteris- 
tics. Hitch  your  cause  to  the  man  who  represents 
it.  A  newspaper  man  of  wide  opportunity  for  obser- 
vation, recently  declared  that  the  public  is  never 
interested  in  reform,  but  in  its  heroes  and  especially 
in  its  villains. 

Elihu  Root  has  said,  "It  seems  sometimes  as  if  our  people  were  inter- 
ested in  nothing  but  personalities,  and  that  we  wanted  a  government  of 
men  and  not  a  government  of  laws." 

Consideration  of  these  fundamental  interests  does  not 
carry  us  far;  for  we  see  that  what  will,  in  a  given  case,  be 
interesting,  will  depend  much  upon  audience  and  occasion 
and  how  and  by  whom  the  matter  is  presented. 

Differences  in  Groups.  No  one  is  likely  to  overlook  the 
fact  that  a  group  of  farmers  may  be  interested  in  topics 
very  dull  to  laboring  men,  and  that  both  farmers  and 
laborers  may  be  interested  in  themes  which  will  not  touch 
a  body  of  artists ;  but  there  are  less  noticeable  divergencies 
which  are  no  less  important.  One  may  sometimes  hear 
city  men  talking  to  farmers  on  the  assumption  that  all 
farmers  are  alike;  yet  fruit  farmers  may  take  no  more 
interest  than  do  artists  in  the  tariff  on  wool.  Speakers 
coming  to  our  universities  may  be  heard  making  painful 
efforts  at  classical  allusions  before  engineering  colleges. 
The  obvious  pneans  of  safety  is  to  know  your  audience,  its 
interests,  its  information  and  its  habits  of  thought.  [ 


184  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

I  referred  just  now  to  a  presidential  possibility  who  bored  an  eager 
audience.  We  had  gone  to  hear  him  because  we  wished  to  know  what 
manner  of  man  he  was,  whatihis  opinions  and  his  tendencies  were  He 
chose  to  read  to  us  a  dry,  impersonal  survey  of  the  origins  of  the  common 
law,  without  an  attempt  to  link  this  history  to  the  present  day.  It  was, 
he  explained,  a  paper  he  had  prepared  for  a  law  school  lecture.  It  may 
have  been  adapted  to  a  convention  of  legal  historians. 

Variations  of  the  Same  Group.  At  one  time  an  audience 
of  laboring  men  may  be  chiefly  interested  in  the  LawTence 
strike,  again  in  the  doings  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  again  in 
sociaHsm,  or  the  open  shop.  I  do  not  mean  to  suggest 
that  a  speaker  should  always  address  his  hearers  on  their 
supreme  interest  of  the  moment ;  but  only  that  he  should 
be  alert  to  the  possibilities  arising  from  special  occasions 
and  occurrences.  |  A  group  may  have  also  great  variations 
of  mood}  A  body  of  economists  in  convention  assembled 
may  in  the  morning  wish  to  hear  discussions  of  taxation; 
in  the  evening  at  a  banquet  they  may  resent  a  heavy  dis- 
cussion. Ministers  do  not  always  wish  to  think  of  their 
duties ;  and  college  students  may  at  times  wish  to  hear  of 
something  other  than  athletics.  Attention  is  caught  by 
objects  and  ideas  congruous  with  our  present  mood,  be  it 
sad,  gay,  business-like,  critical,  or  what  not? 
I  The  Speaker's  Relation  to  Audience,  Occasion  and 
Theme.  The  audience  may  wish  to  hear  a  speaker  upon 
a  certain  theme  because  of  some  special  advantage  he 
possesses,  as  having  taken  part  in  the  movement  he  dis- 
cusses. Almost  any  audience  would  like  to  hear  Peary  or 
Amundsen  describe  their  polar  explorations,  and  yet  might 
be  greatly  bored  to  hear  one  with  no  record  of  achievement 

^Those  who  wish  a  scientific  starting  point  for  study  may  take  this 
from  Pillsbury,  Attention,  p.  52:  "The  conditions  of  any  act  of  attention 
are  to  be  found  in  the  present  environment  (objective  conditions)  and  in 
the  past  experiences  of  the  individual  (subjective  conditions).  The  main 
objective  conditions  are  the  intensity,  extent,  and  duration  of  the  stimu- 
lus. The  subjective  conditions  are  to  be  found  in  the  idea  in  the  mind  at 
the  time,  in  the  mood  of  the  moment,  the  education,  previous  social 
environment,  and  heredity  of  the  individual." 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  185 

speaking  on  the  same  subject,  although  he  were  well 
informed  and  actually  giving  a  better  lecture.  Cornellians 
woidd  not  care  to  hear  a  freshman  speak  on  the  beginnings 
of  the  University;  but  they  would  like  very  much  to  hear 
Cornell's  first  president,  Andrew  D.  White,  tell  of  the 
events  of  which  he  might  use  the  words  of  iEneas,  *'A11  of 
which  I  saw  and  part  of  which  I  was." 

A  speaker  should  beware  of  attempting  to  discuss  a  sub- 
ject of  which  he  has  little  knowledge  before  a  body  of 
experts.  If  you  have  to  give  an  address  of  welcome  to  a 
convention  of  specialists,  keep  on  safe  ground.  Do  not 
think  to  make  a  hit  by  reading  up  in  an  encyclopedia. 
Probably  what  you  read  is  to  them  exploded  doctrine; 
at  any  rate  you  are  sure  to  expose  your  ignorance.  Painful 
also  are  those  attempts  to  retail  the  history  of  a  town  to  its 
inhabitants.  Even  if  the  speaker  knows  the  facts  better 
than  the  inhabitants,  still  they  may  not  wish  to  hear  them 
from  a  stranger,  though  they  may  relish  references  which 
show  that  the  speaker  knows  something  of  their  history. 
In  any  case,  the  speaker  does  well  to  ask  himself  whether 
he  is  the  right  person  to  present  the  proposed  topic,  not 
only  from  the  standpoint  of  preparation,  but  also  from 
that  of  personal  acceptability.  A  labor  audience  may  not 
think  you  quahfied  to  speak  on  the  closed  shop,  no  matter 
how  much  preparation  you  have;  and  may  even  be  pre- 
judiced against  hearing  you,  if,  for  example,  they  suspect 
you  of  hostility  to  unionism. 

flhe  Age  of  a  Speaker  is  often  important  in  the  minds  of 
his  audience.  /  "The  idea  of  that  young  thing  trying  to 
tell  us  how  to  bring  up  our  children!"  exclaim  indignant 
matrons  when  a  freshly  ordained  preacher  essays  this 
theme.  There  is  a  pride  in  knowing  one's  own  affairs,  or 
the  affairs  of  one's  time,  which  may  blind  people  to  actual 
wisdom  on  the  part  of  a  speaker. 


186  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Ringwalt^  furnishes  the  following  suggestive  comment  and  incident: 
"A  student  may  be  better  informed  on  a  public  question  than  a  con- 
gressman, but  the  latter  will  get  the  invitation  to  speak;  what  a  man  may 
be  expected  to  know  weighs  heavily.  A  young  student  who  had  gained 
considerable  reputation  as  a  speaker,  was  asked,  with  a  number  of  dis- 
tinguished men,  to  respond  to  a  toast  of  his  own  selection  at  a  banquet 
held  on  the  birthday  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  Had  he  chosen  to  speak  on 
Lincoln's  political  career,  he  would  have  been  listened  to  with  courtesy, 
but,  by  men  who  knew  from  experience  the  facts  he  related  from  histories, 
hardly  with  interest.  He  chose  rather  as  his  subject,  'Lincoln  as  a 
Master  of  English  Style,'  and  scored  the  chief  success  of  the  evening. 
This  was  the  one  theme  about  which  he  not  only  knew  more  than  his 
hearers,  but  about  which  they  all  realized  he  could  know  more." 

A  student  friend  of  mine  was  asked  to  address  the  Grand  Army  Post 
in  his  home  village  on  Memorial  Day.  I  will  leave  to  you  the  questions: 
What  should  have  been  his  theme,  and  how  should  he  have  treated  it? 

The  General  Audience.  So  far  we  have  considered 
special  audiences,  homogeneous  groups.  The  interests  of 
the  general  audience  are  less  dependable J  The  more 
heterogeneous  an  audience,  the  more  difficult  to  control 
and  to  "fuse"  its  members  into  one  mood. 

'  To  appeal  to  each  element  of  a  mixed  audience  in  turn 
makes  sustained  interest  on  the  part  of  all  improbable; 
yet  this  is  sometimes  the  only  feasible  method.  /  Varied 
illustrations  and  applications  may  be  needed  to  catch  the 
interest  J  now  of  the  business  men,  now  of  the  women,  now 
of  the  factory  workers;  but  all  that  is  said  should  be  at 
least  intelligible  to  the  great  majority  of  those  present, 
and  no  considerable  time  should  pass  in  which  any  group 
is  given  nothing  of  interest.  Sometimes  a  speaker  of  great 
prestige  may  venture  to  say  frankly,  "Now  I  wish  the  rest 
of  you  to  wait  while  I  talk  to  these  merchants ;"  but  unless 
the  other  groups  can  have  some  sympathetic  interest  in 
this  special  discussion,  they  will  soon  grow  restless.  And 
if  the  speaker  be  "talking  over  the  heads"  of  any  group, 
resentment  may  be  aroused.  If  a  speaker  in  a  college  town 
especially  addressed  himself  to  the  faculty  members 
present,  in  a  way  which  presumed  them  to  be  of  superior 

^Modern  American  Oratory,  p.  38. 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  187 

intelligence,  he  might  easily  arouse  the  old  town-and-gown 
hostility. 

Indefiniteness  is  not  Necessary.  |  Though  the  appeal  to 
the  interest  of  a  general  audience  must  at  times  be  ^xry 
broad,  still  it  need  not  be  indefinite. )  Though  one  has  an 
audience  composed  of  scientists,  workingmen,  teachers, 
farmers,  philosophers  and  social  workers,  still  all  men  are 
alike  in  many  ways,  and  have  in  one  way  or  another  the 
same  needs  and  the  same  human  experiences,  just  as  all 
catch  the  measles.  *'Judy  O'Grady  and  the  Captain's 
lady  are  sisters,  under  the  skin."  The  orator  understands 
and  shares  the  common  human  interests,  and  under  all 
circumstances  finds  a  common  ground  of  interest  and  sym- 
pathy. 

It  is  sometimes  complained  that  speakers  indulge  too  much  in  common- 
place and  platitude.  The  charge  is  true,  just  as  it  is  true  of  those  who 
write  and  converse.  But  critics  should  not  be  too  strict,  in  view  of  the 
necessity  of  finding  a  meeting  place  for  all  sorts  of  people.  At  the  same 
time  speakers  do  well  to  relieve  necessary  commonplaces  with  freshness 
of  form. 

In  many  cases,  even  with  the  most  heterogeneous 
audience,  no  preliminary  search  for  a  common  ground  is 
needed;  for  all  may  be  already  interested  in  the  same 
political  issue,  the  same  application  of  a  scientific  discovery , 
the  same  story  of  heroism,  the  same  sanitary  regulation, 
or  the  same  high  cost  of  living.  I  have  seen  an  audience 
as  heterogeneous  as  that  suggested  above,  all  fused  into 
one  splendid  enthusiasm  for  the  support  of  Governor 
Hughes  in  his  demand  that  the  state  constitution  should 
be  enforced  against  race  track  gambling. 
/  Most  of  the  members  of  the  usual  audience  have  much 
in  common  in  origin,  tradition,  prejudice,  religion,  ex- 
perience, association,  politics,  and  in  general  information. 
They  live  in  the  same  community,  or  have  been  brought 
together  by  common  interests,  or  by  congeniality. [  They 
can  be  expected  to  recognize  certain  allusions,  to  think  at  a 


188  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

certain  rate,  to  know  certain  facts,  and  to  respond  to  cer- 
tain appeals.  One  can  hardly  hope  to  reach  every  member 
of  an  audience.  How  far  the  attempt  should  be  carried, 
to  what  level  in  one's  audience  and  to  how  many  elements 
a  speech  should  be  addressed,  are  questions  that  cannot  be 
answered  except  with  reference  to  particular  cases. 

We  turn  now  to  consider  means  of  interesting  which  are 
more  or  less  applicable  to  all  audiences. 

Derived  Interest.  If  the  principle  is  not  fresh  in  your 
mind,  you  should  turn  back  to  Chapters  III  and  IV,  and 
especially  you  should  re-read  the  quotation  from  James  at 
p.  67.  Just  as  teachers  no  longer  begin  geography  with  a 
discussion  of  the  planetary  system  and  gradually  approach 
the  child's  place  in  it,  but  begin  with  phenomena  already 
familiar  to  him,  the  towns,  streams  and  islands  he  knows; 
I  so  speakers  should  start  with  that  phase  of  their  subject 
already  known  and  interesting  to  their  hearers,  at  the  point 
where  they  "have  something  to  attend  w4th./'  If  the 
topic  does  not  relate  itself  directly  to  the  existing  interests 
of  your  audience,  then  connecting  links  must  be  supplied. 
When  this  is  impracticable,  the  topic  is  impracticable. 

The  illustration  in  Chapter  IV  of  one  going  deliberately  to  work  to 
interest  himself  in  Grecian  archeology  might  easily  be  turned  into  a 
problem  in  interesting  an  audience.  Work  this  out:  Suppose  your 
task  were  to  interest  a  group  of  business  men  in  excavations  on  the  sites 
of  Egyptian  cities.  Could  you  in  any  way  utilize  the  religious  interest? 
Where  would  you  begin  with  the  same  group  in  interesting  them  in  the 
peace  movement? 

Problems  of  deriving  interest  arise  every  day  in  a  public  speaking  class. 
If  one  is  talking  of,  What  is  the  matter  with  the  football  team?  no 
problem  arises,  but  to  use  that  sort  of  topic  all  the  time  proves  limiting, 
A  student  of  agriculture  had  some  good  ideas  on  the  common  complaint 
that  too  much  time  is  spent  upon  teaching  the  theory  of  agriculture,  and 
too  little  upon  practical  applications.  Two-thirds  of  the  class,  not  being 
students  in  agriculture,  evinced  little  interest.  The  speaker  might  have 
gained  general  interest  by  first  taking  the  question  up  as  one  that  arises 
in  all  courses,  law,  engineering,  etc.,  and  then  proceeded  to  illustrate 
with  the  course  he  knew  most  about.    Another  student  of  the  same  col- 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  189 

lege  wished  to  speak  on  the  Grange;  but  when  asked  the  standard  ques- 
tion. How  will  you  interest  all  in  that?  he  gave  up.  Yet  there  are  phases 
of  the  Grange  which  would  interest  most  of  us;  the  co-operative  principle, 
for  example,  or  the  Grange  in  politics.  Another  wished  to  speak  upon 
the  growing  of  apples.  He  might  have  taken  up  the  enormous  business 
of  marketing  apples,  for  business  interests  most  students  to-day;  but  as 
he  wished  to  take  the  technical  phases,  such  as  the  composition  of  sprays, 
it  did  not  seem  worth  while  to  make  the  far-fetched  connection.  Unless 
a  speaker  has  a  strong  reason  for  taking  a  topic  far  removed  from  the 
interests  of  his  audience,  the  fact  that  he  must  take  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  his  time  for  establishing  a  derived  interest,  will  usually  be  a  good 
reason  for  choosing  another  topic. 

Law  students  may  fail  to  detach  themselves  from  the  law  school 
atmosphere;  but  one  who  wished  to  practice  legal  discussion  succeeded 
in  making  his  talk  both  interesting  and  tangible  by  using  as  a  basis 
rooming  contracts,  a  burning  issue  at  the  time.  A  student  in  architec- 
ture, speaking  in  a  class  including  no  others  from  his  college,  kept  up 
interest  in  his  favorite  theme  by  selecting  illustrations  from  the  campus 
buildings.  The  student  of  chemistry  who  started  with  the  keen  interest 
in  automobiles  carried  us  far  into  a  discussion  of  substitutes  for  gasoline. 
Even  the  hackneyed  subject  of  capital  punishment  may  get  a  new  lease 
of  life  from  the  case  of  some  noted  criminal  about  to  be  executed. 

Ways  of  Deriving  Interest.  Sometimes  the  existing 
interests  of  your  hearers  may  be  utilized  by  starting  with 
one  of  these  and  leading  into  the  desired  topic,  as  by 
beginning  with  the  present  war  and  leading  to  international 
law;  sometimes  by  beginning  with  a  phase  of  one's  topic 
which  quickly  shows  its  relation  to  an  existing  interest,  as 
by  taking  a  question  of  international  law  which  is  closely 
related  to  the  war,  e.  g.,  blockades;  and  again,  by  one's 
selection  of  illustrations.  I  By^^'hateve^  method  you  choose 
to  proceed,  do  not  ask  your  audience  to  listen  long  without 
seeing  how  your  topic  is  related  to  something  they  con- 
sider interesting;  and  as  you  proceed  you  should  continue 
to  link  the  new  matter  to  that  already  made  interesting, 
"so  that  the  interest,  being  shed  along  from  point  to  point, 
finally  suffuses  the  entire  system  of  objects  of  thought. 'j 
You  may  be  able,  also,  to  reach  out,  at  various  stages,  and. 


190  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

connect  your  ideas  with  other  interests  than  those  first 
touched.  It  is  conceivable  that  in  a  single  short  speech, 
with  perfect  unity,  you  might  enlist  the  interest  which  your 
hearers  possess  in  athletics,  in  education,  in  temperance 
and  in  religion;  and  the  fusion  of  these  interests  would 
make  a  strong  whole.  One  may  think  of  each  of  these 
interests  as  throwing  a  rope  to  assist  in  mooring  the  new 
subject . 

\  Interest  Derived  through  Illustrations.  Examples  of 
the  common  device  of  using  illustrations  which  come 
peculiarly  within  the  experience  of  one's  audience,  were 
given  in  the  comments  on  class  speeches  above.  A  stump 
speaker  addressing  now  farmers,  now  railroad  men,  now 
salesmen,  will  usually  try  to  vary  his  illustrations  to  fit 
each  group.  However,! we  should  not  suppose  that  any 
class  of  people  are  interested  in  their  own  specialties  only.  ] 
Another  warning  is  in  order :  \do  not  try  to  draw  illustra- 
tions from  any  field  unless  you  are  sure  of  your  ground; 
Railroad  men  may  like  to  hear  you  draw  illustrations  from 
their  work,  if  you  can  do  so  easily  and  naturally;  but  they 
•will  be  amused  or  bored  by  a  strained  attempt.  Of  a 
preacher  who  tried  to  talk  to  an  audience  of  sailors  in 
their  own  terms,  one  of  his  hearers  said:  ''There  are  two 
things  he  doesn't  understand,  navigation  and  religion." 
The  experienced  public  speaker  is  likely  to  form  the  habit 
of  obser^^ing  all  sorts  of  things  and  talking  with  all  sorts  of 
men,  and  storing  away  material  for  illustrati©n. 

One  reason  for  Mr.  Roosevelt's  success  with  audiences  lies  in  his  varied 
career,  as  son  of  an  old  New  York  family,  Harvard  student,,  politician, 
cowboy,  historian,  naturalist,  hunter,  traveler,  rough  rider,  police  com- 
missioner, president  and  one  forgets  what  else, — all  giving  him  intimate 
knowledge  of  many  kinds  of  people. 

Novelty  and  the  Interest  of  Audiences.  After  the  dis- 
cussion in  Chapter  III  you  will  readily  understand  that 
while  new  things  and  new  ideas  are  a  source  of  interest. 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  191 

there  is  no  need  to  strain  after  mere  novelty;  and,  indeed, 
that  it  is  unwise  to  attempt  to  "scintillate  with  original 
and  unique  conceptions,"  as  one  writer  would  have  us  do; 
for  the  strongest  and  most  sustained  interest  arises  from 
the  union  of  old  and  new.  Read  again  with  care  the 
quotation  from  Royce  on  p.  70  of  this  text,  and  that  from 
James  on  p.  71.  "The  old  in  the  new  is  what  claims 
attention."  When  we  present  new  ideas  to  an  audience, 
then,  we  should  present  them  in  such  a  way  that  their 
relation  to  familiar  things  is  apparent,  so  that  they  may 
be  compared  or  identified,  or  so  that  the  relation  of  cause 
and  effect  or  some  other  relation  is  evident;  and  when  we 
present  old  matter  we  should  give  it  new  aspects,  relations 
and  applications. 

A  group  of  housewives  may  be  interested  in  hearing  an  explanation  of 
the  familiar  phenomenon  of  the  rising  of  bread.  I  was  much  interested 
in  learning  from  the  speech  of  a  student  of  architecture  of  the  considerable 
accomplishment  of  Thomas  Jefferson  as  an  architect;  while  the  student 
derived  an  interest  in  the  statesman  who  was  also  an  artist. 

Travel  lectures  have  great  vogue  on  Lyceum  and  Chautauqua  plat- 
forms. They  furnish  a  pleasant  opportunity  for  comparing  and  con- 
trasting, and  discovering  the  familiar  in  the  seemingly  unfamiliar. 
"What  an  odd  way  to  do!"  we  hear  a  listener  say;  that  is,  how  different 
from  our  way  of  doing  the  same  thing.  "What  a  queer-looking  place 
in  that  picture!  Why,  it's  a  kind  of  store,  isn't  it?  How  interesting!" 
The  following  sentence,  written  of  an  Eastern  country,  illustrates  the 
force  of  contrast  with  the  familiar: 

"It  is  a  country  where  the  roses  have  no  fragrance,  and  women  no 
petticoats;  where  the  laborer  has  no  Sabbath,  and  the  magistrate  no 
sense  of  honor;  where  the  roads  bear  no  vehicles,  and  the  ships  have  no 
keels;  where  old  men  fly  kites,  .  .  and  the  sign  of  being  puzzled  is  to 
scratch  the  heel." 

The  Familiar.  While  the  absolutely  familiar  is  said  to 
be  uninteresting,  we  should  note  that  the  very  familiar  is 
at  times  welcomed.  Do  we  not  love  old  songs  and  old 
stories?  The  question  was  recently  asked.  Why  are  so 
many  jokes  made  reflecting  upon  stenographers?  and 
Harper's  Weekly  replied,  "The  world  loves  familiar  jokes 


192  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

and  familiar  effects."  At  any  rate,  while  I  should  be 
very  sorry  to  encourage  triteness,  we  must  recognize  the 
fact  that  there  are  times  when  people  like  to  hear  familiar 
ideas,  and  also  like  them  put  in  a  familiar  way.  Indeed, 
they  may  object  to  a  departure  from  the  old  way,  as 
children  hold  their  entertainers  to  the  -s^eiy  words  of  oft 
repeated  stories.  We  know  that  partisan  audiences  love 
to  gather  on  Jackson's  birthday  to  hear  again  the  familiar 
phrases  in  praise  of  party  and  party  heroes.  Gatherings 
of  old  soldiers  never  weary  of  their  familiar  themes  and 
eulogies.  It  is  said  that  the  veterans  from  North  and 
South  at  the  great  gathering  on  the  field  of  Gettysburg  in 
1913,  did  not  take  kindly  President  Wilson's  attempt  to 
talk  to  them  of  the  duties  of  the  present.  Their  minds 
were  full  of  the  past. 

What  is  Triteness?  In  apparent  conflict  with  the  above  is 
the  fact  that  no  complaint  is  more  common  or  damning  than 
that  a  speech  was  trite,  that  its  matter  was  stale,  or  worn- 
out  with  much  repeating.  The  complaint  is  evidently 
a  demand  for  novelty.  Plainly  enough,  it  behooves  a 
speaker  to  get  a  clear  idea  of  triteness. 

The  reconciliation  of  this  criticism  with  the  liking  for  the 
familiar  may  be  sought,  first,  in  the  kind  of  subject  used 
in  a  given  case.  It  may  not  have  been  one  considered 
important  by  the  critic.  Some  one  has  well  said,  *'No 
truth  ever  is  or  can  be  trite  to  one  who  uses  it."  Old 
problems  still  pressing  for  solution  do  not  become  trite, 
though  we  may  temporarily  weary  of  them.  The  old, 
old  negro  problem  can  still  be  depended  upon  for  an 
interesting  discussion  in  my  classes.  Again,  the  subject 
may  not  have  been  one  dear  to  the  hearts  of  the  audience. 
We  may  note  that  the  themes  which  people  love  to 
hear  about  in  the  old  way  are  those  on  which  they  ha^  e 
warm  convictions  and  strongly  emotional  associations. 
Secondly,  much   depends  upon  the    occasion  .ft   The  old 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  193 

recital  is  especially  welcomed  at  gatherings  which  awaken 
old  and  emotional  associations.  Then  the  old  is  congruous 
with  the  hearer's  mood.  The  old  soldiers  gathered  at 
Gettysburg  are  very  different  from  the  same  men  at  home, 
with  business  uppermost  in  their  minds.  Political  and 
religious  meetings  also  arouse  emotional  associations 
and  remove  the  critical  spirit. 

Thirdly,  the  treatment  of  the  old  topic  may  have  been 
dull,  confused,  or  inferior  to  what  the  audience  was  accus- 
tomed to.  To  fall  below  the  expectation  of  the  audience, 
based  on  memory  of  other  speakers,  is  especially  unfor- 
tunate. Fourthly;  much  depends  upon  the  presumption 
with  which  old  matter  is  presented. ;  If  old  information  is 
presented  as  new,  or  old  arguments  are  made  as  arguments 
which  the  audience  has  not  before  understood,  resentment 
may  be  provoked.  "Does  he  think  we  don't  know  that?" 
is  sometimes  heard. 

There  are  many  young  speakers  who  offend  in  this  way,  always  "carry- 
ing coals  to  Newcastle."  Students  will  tell  their  classmates  how  the 
campus  is  arranged  and  the  most  obvious  faults  of  the  old  gymnasium. 
The  explanation  seems  to  be  that  they  have  not  realized  what  speech- 
making  is,  and  are  still  in  the  essay  habit,  writing  for  instructors  who  have 
no  right  to  be  interested.  I  have  heard  the  commonplaces  about  our 
gymnasium  so  many  times  that,  given  the  start,  I  know  the  rest.  This 
speech  and  several  others  of  its  kind  simply  embody  the  campus  talk, 
which  any  sophomore  can  give  without  preparation.  Yet  I  have  heard 
a  speech  on  that  same  gymnasium  and  its  same  deficiencies,  which  com- 
bined so  much  new  information  and  such  an  individual  point  of  view 
with  the  old  ideas,  that  it  was  genuinely  interesting.  There  is  another 
kind  of  student  speaker,  somewhat  of  a  thinker  and  scholar,  who  tries 
to  give  us  just  as  much  new  matter  as  possible,  quite  regardless  of  the 
state  of  our  interest  and  understanding. 

Audiences  differ  in  their  relish  for  novelty,  because 
some  are  more  conservative  than  others  in  their  thinking. 
Some  like  to  look  back  and  dwell  upon  what  we  owe  the 
past;  they  glory  in  Webster's  speeches  at.  Bunker  Hill 
and  Plymouth  Rock;    while  others  think  those  speeches 


194  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

tiresome  commonplaces,  and  find  their  interest  in  what  is 
and  what  is  to  be.  Some  love  old  ideas  just  because  they 
are  old,  as  they  lo\'e  old  furniture;  others  love  the  new 
because  it  is  new,  as  they  love  new  words  and  new  fashions. 
There  are  tories  and  radicals  of  thought.  The  difference 
may  arise  not  only  from  temperament,  but  also  from  train- 
ing. A  body  of  scholars,  while  insisting  upon  the  recogni- 
tion of  established  truths  and  appro\'ed  modes  of  thought , 
may  still  delight  in  ventures  into  the  fields  of  speculation; 
they  gladly  seek  new  truth  for  its  own  sake.  A  body  of 
"advanced  thinkers,"  generally  lacking  sound  training, 
may  insist  not  at  all  upon  the  recognition  of  familiar  land- 
marks, and  take  wdth  enthusiasm  the  boldest  flights  into 
the  uncharted  realms  of  fancy.  On  the  other  hand,  those 
who  are  unaccustomed  to  thinking  and  who  are  guided 
by  a  few  inherited  beliefs,  are  reluctant  to  venture  out  of 
sight  of  the  familiar  headlands.  They  may  even  resent 
the  introduction  of  a  great  deal  that  they  cannot  interpret. 
We  recall,  also,  that  the  educated  find  fewer  things 
entirely  new,  and  they  are  more  rarely  carried  beyond  the 
point  of  comparison. 

Most  persons  will  expect,  on  most  occasions,  to  gain 
something  from  attending  your  address.  They  usually 
hope  for  new  information,  or  to  get  new  hght  on  an  old 
problem,  or  perhaps  to  receive  reassurance  and  inspiration. 
Excepting  the  unusually  serious-minded,  few  are  so  keen 
for  improvement  that  they  will  take  stock  afterward  of 
what  they  have  gained;  provided,  they  have  been  inter- 
ested. But  if  you  have  not  succeeded  in  interesting  them, 
they  will  grumble  that  the  time  has  been  wasted,  that  it 
was  "the  same  old  stuff,"  and  that  they  have  heard  it  much 
better  put  before. 

Summary.  iThe  new  has  power  to  interest;    and  the 
new  is  what  the  speaker  himself  often  desires  to  present.! 
We  must  keep  in  mind,  however,  the  principle  of  derived 


-O 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  195 

interest,  j  New  ideals  and  facts  should  be  presented  so  that 
they  can  be  readily  related  to  existing  interests;  so  that 
the  audience  can  see  that  the  new  is  a  valuable  addition 
to  existing  knowledge,  furnishes  a  new  explanation,  or  is 
in  opposition  to  existing  beliefs.  The  audience  likes  to 
identify  the  familiar  in  new  guise,  simply  to  identify,  or  to 
recognize  in  an  incident  or  situation  a  new  instance  to 
confirm  an  old  conviction,  or  to  find  that  accepted  prin- 
ciples have  applications  hitherto  unknown.  We  must 
recognize  that  there  are  circumstances  under  which 
audiences  like  to  hear  familiar  ideas  put  in  familiar  ways; 
and  yet  that  they  are  quick  to  complain  of  triteness,  which 
seems  to  be  the  result  of  putting  old  material  in  a  way 
which  fails  to  respond  to  or  to  awaken  their  emotions,  in  a 
way  which  falls  short  of  their  expectations,  or  which 
assumes  the  ignorance  of  the  audience.  Usually  we  should 
aim  to  give  something  new  in  material  or  something  new 
in  treatment;    or  better,  something  new  in  both.  / 

Making  the  Audience  Think.  I  have  been  speaking 
merely  of  holding  attention,  leaving  out  of  view  the  other 
purposes  of  the  speaker.  I  have  considered  this  problem, 
too,  chiefly  from  the  standpoint  of  the  pleasure  of  the 
audience.  If  we  consider  the  question  of  new  and  old  with 
reference  to  making  the  audience  think,  which  is,  of  course, 
to  make  them  attend,  we  shall  come  to  the  same  conclu- 
sion. We  may  rest  this  on  the  following  from  Dewey's 
How  We  Think} 

"The  more  remote  supplies  the  stimulus  and  the  motive 
[of  thinking];  the  nearer  at  hand  furnishes  the  point  of 
approach  and  the  available  resources.  This  principle 
may  also  be  stated  in  this  form :  The  best  thinking  occurs 
when  the  easy  and  the  difficult  are  duly  proportioned  to 
each  other.  The  easy  and  the  famihar  are  equivalents, 
as  are  the  strange  and  the  difficult.  Too  much  that  is 
easy  gives  no  ground  for  inquiry,  too  much  of  the  hard 
renders  inquiry  hopeless." 

*p.  222. 


196  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Sensational  Methods.  To  catch  attention  speakers 
sometimes  use  methods  in  sharp  contrast  with  the  usual. 
These  are  at  times  justiiBable^  as  when  your  audience  is 
peculiarly  inattentive  because  of  stupidity,  or  weariness, 
or  because  of  anger,  as  in  case  of  a  mob,  or  because  their 
attention  is  strongly  drawn  by  other  attractions,  as  is 
often  the  case  in  outdoor  speaking.  In  a  sense,  every 
speaker  uses  sensational  methods  when  he  suddenly  lifts 
his  voice,  or  uses  a  striking  gesture  or  epigram;  but  when 
an  evangelist  advertises,  "Hell  to-night  at  the  Presbyterian 
Church,"  or  tears  off  coat  and  collar,  or  suddenly  shouts, 
"Look  out!"  we  say  he  is  sensational.  Between  these 
extremes  are  many  grades  of  sensationalism,  and  it  is 
useless  to  attempt  to  say  what  is  justifiable  and  what  is 
not.  There  is  this  to  be  considered:  When  a  speaker's 
public  becomes  accustomed  to  his  extraordinary  methods, 
it  will  not  listen  so  well  when  he  wishes  to  use  more  con- 
venient ordinary  methods.  Extreme  methods  are  like 
stimulants,  the  dose  has  to  be  increased.  If  you  turn  a 
physical  or  a  mental  handspring  to-day,  you  will  be  ex- 
pected to  turn  it  backward  to-morrow.  Again,  the  sensa- 
tional method  may  defeat  its  purpose  of  drawing  attention 
to  what  you  wish  to  impress,  by  drawing  attention  to 
itself.  If  you  acquire  a  reputation  as  a  "stuntster,"  people 
will  come  for  the  stunts,  and  perhaps  feel  impatient  when 
you  try  to  slip  in  a  few  ideas. 

To  illustrate  effective  use  of  a  striking  expression,  we  may  take  the 
opening  sentence  of  a  bulletin  of  the  New  York  State  Health  Board, 
intended  to  catch  the  public  eye  from  the  pages  of  a  newspaper:  "It 
has  been  said  that  for  every  death  from  tuberculosis,  some  one  should 
be  hanged."  Having  caught  attention  without  committing  the  Board 
to  this  startling  proposal,  the  bulletin  proceeds:  "It  has  been  better 
said  that  for  every  death  from  tuberculosis,  some  one  should  be  educated." 
And  note  that  this  attracts  attention  to  the  very  point  of  the  bulletin. 
I  would  not  at  all  discourage  the  use  of  the  genuinely  effective 
phrase. 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  197 

Curiosity.  One  of  the  surest  ways  of  catching  attention 
Js  to  provoke  curiosity  in  regard  to  what  is  coming.' 
This  is  done  sometimes  by  announcements  or  titles  which 
cause  guessing,  such  as  ^Jelly-Fish  and  Equal  Rights  ;/or 
it  may  be  done  by  hints  of  notable  disclosures  to  be  made, 
or  by  a  course  of  argument  which  keeps  the  hearer  in 
doubt  as  to  the  speaker's  ultimate  position.!  Again, 
tricks  are  played  upon  the  audience;  as  when  a  speaker 
displays  a  mysterious  document,  to  which  he  may  or  may 
not  refer.  Unless  the  speaker,  having  caught  attention, 
really  interests  his  audience  in  something  else,  or  in  open- 
ing up  his  mystery,  satisfies  them  that  their  attention  has 
been  repaid,  they  may  resent  the  trick;  as  one  feels  peevish 
to  find  that  a  gi-eat  secret  he  has  been  called  aside  to  hear, 
is  but  trivial.  If  Mark  Antony  had  not  had  a  real  sensa- 
tion after  holding  back  Caesar's  will  so  long,  the  Roman 
mob  might  have  burned  his  house.  One  remembers,  too, 
the  fate  of  the  boy  who  cried,  "Wolf,  wolf!"  when  there 
was  no  wolf. 

Suspense.  Closely  related  to  curiosity  is  that  element 
which  carries  us  with  breathless  interest  to  the  conclusion 
of  a  novel,  seeking  to  know  the  hero's  fate,  and  which 
makes  most  thrilling  the  game  which  is  in  doubt  till  the 
last  * 'put-out."  Where  may  be  in  most  cases  strong 
reasons  why  the  speaker  should  tell  his  audience  in  advance 
what  he  proposes  to  explain  or  prove  or  ask  them  to  do, 
but  the  element  of  suspense  is  often  available.  \  A  conser- 
vative audience  was  held  in  considerable  trepidation  by  a 
student  speaker  who  devoted  the  first  half  of  his  speech  to 
the  best  possible  arguments  for  anarchy;  and  then 
listened  with  relief  while  he  toppled  over  these  same  argu- 
ments. Mere  uncertainty  is  not  very  effective;  the  un- 
certainty should  arise  with  regard  to  something  the  audience 
cares  about.     Sometimes  the  material  of  a  speech  can  be 

^Atlantic  Monthly,  July,  1914. 


198  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

thrown  into  the  form  of  a  dramatic  narrative  which  has 
suspense  as  a  principal  element. 

Anticipation.  But  it  is  not  sheer  blank  inability  to 
foresee  any  issue  at  all  that  is  most  provocative  of  interest; 
rather  the  chance  to  anticipate,  to  make  a  shrewd  guess  at 
the  outcome  J 

A  preacher  kept  even  the  regular  sleepers  of  his  congregation  awake  by 
announcing  that  his  text  would  not  be  given  until  the  end  of  his  sermon, 
and  requesting  that  each  should  fix  upon  an  appropriate  verse  of  Scrip- 
ture. 

More  than  this,  we  must  admit  great  pleasure  in  looking 
forward  to  a  know^n  outcome. 

A  writer  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly^  points  out  that  we  go  to  a  popular 
play  with  pretty  complete  advance  information. 

"Consequently,  there  is  not  the  slightest  danger,  even  if  we  come  late, 
that  I  shall  laugh  at  the  wrong  place  or  fail  to  laugh  at  the  right  place, 
or  that  Emmeline  will  fail  to  grope  for  her  handkerchief  at  the  right  time. 
Through  the  same  agency  of  the  newspaper  the  funniest  lines,  the  strong- 
est 'punch,'  the  most  sympathetic  bits  of  dialogue  have  been  charted 
and  located.  At  college  I  used  to  be  told  that  the  tremendous  appeal  of 
the  Greek  drama  was  dependent  in  large  measure  on  the  fact  that  it 
dealt  with  stories  which  were  perfectly  familiar  to  the  public.  The 
Athenian  audience  came  to  the  theatre  expectant,  siu'charged  with 
emotion,  waiting  eagerly  to  let  its  emotion  go." 

The  speaker  will  meet  with  such  anticipation  usually 
only  in  times  of  public  excitement,  when  perhaps  the 
papers  have  been  prophesying  that  a  leader  will  make  a 
certain  announcement  on  a  given  occasion.  In  some 
cases  these  announcements  are  skillfully  prepared  for  by 
hints  to  the  papers  for  several  days,  hints  which  preserve 
an  element  of  uncertainty.  In  political  campaigns  a 
candidate  may  go  about  day  after  day,  reiterating  a 
popular  pledge,  making  damaging  charges,  or  asking  hard 
questions  of  his  opponent.  We  know  what  he  is  going  to 
say,  but  we  want  to  hear  him  say  it. 

Mr.  Jerome  with  his  brass  checks  from  the  "red-light"  district,  in  one 
of  his  campaigns  for  the  district  attorneyship  of  New  York  City,  and  Mr. 
Taft  with  his  oft  reiterated  pledge  in  1908  to  "carry  out  absolutely 

^May,  1914,  The  Show,  by  Simeon  Strimsky. 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  199 

unaltered  the  policies  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,"  may  serve  as  examples. 
Mr.  Hennessey,  who  during  the  mayoralty  campaign  in  New  York  City 
in  1913,  gave  each  night  a  portion  of  his  revelations  of  Tammany  rule, 
with  a  promise  of  more  to-morrow,  illustrated  the  force  of  both  anticipa- 
tion and  suspense. 

Humor.  -  An  audience  will  listen  as  long  as  it  is  amused^ 
and  a  good  laugh  may  banish  weariness  or  hostility.  So 
true  is  this  that  ability  to  make  an  audience  laugh  is  a 
dangerous  temptation  to  overuse  humor.  Unless  the 
story  or  witty  saying  serves  the  purpose  of  the  speech,  it  is 
likely  to  distract  attention.  The  practice  of  dragging  in 
stories  without  connection,  or  with  only  a  fictitious  con- 
nection, though  very  common,  is  one  to  "make  the 
judicious  grieve."  The  determination  to  be  "funny"  at 
any  cost  comes  within  the  spirit  of  Hamlet's  condemnation : 

"Let  those  that  play  your  clowns  speak  no  more  than  is 
set  down  for  them;  for  there  be  of  them  that  will  them- 
selves laugh,  to  set  on  some  barren  quantity  of  spectators 
to  laugh,  too;  though,  in  the  meantime,  some  necessary 
question  of  the  play  be  then  to  be  considered:  that's 
villainous,  and  shows  a  most  pitiful  ambition  in  the  fool 
that  uses  it." 

Professor  Ketcham^  tells  of  a  student,  with  whom  we  might  sympathize 
in  his  yielding  to  temptation,  without  approving  of  his  action.  The 
speaker  in  question  was  third  in  a  college  oratorical  contest,  and  one 
after  the  other  the  first  two  speakers  forgot  their  speeches  and  retired. 
He  came  forward  and  began: 

"Lord  God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet. 
Lest  we  forget,  lest  we  forget." 
Professor  Ketcham  justly  observes:  "The  effect  was  a  decided  success, 
if  success  were  to  be  judged  by  the  amusement  of  the  audience;  but 
it  only  prolonged  the  time  required  to  get  the  attention  of  the  audience 
fixed  on  the  serious  subject  which  the  speaker  wished  to  present."  There 
is  one  possible  justification  for  what  this  speaker  did, — that  the  quotation 
served  to  relieve  the  strain  of  feeling  which  holds  all  after  the  failure  of  a 
speaker.  If  the  student  had  had  the  skill  to  frame  a  new  introduction 
to  lead  gradually  from  the  fun  to  his  serious  subject,  I  should  say  he  ha  d 
done  well,  but  that  is  beyond  the  average  ability. 

^Argumentation  and  Debate,  p.  101 . 


200  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Even  on  the  lightest  of  occasions,  when  the  "necessary 
question"  is  inconsiderable,  one  should  not  be  content  to 
descend  to  the  mental  level  of  the  Duchess '} 

"He  might  bite,"  Alice  cautiously  replied.     .     .     . 

"Very  true,"  said  the  Duchess,  "flamingoes  and  mustard  both  bite. 
And  the  moral  of  that  is — 'Birds  of  a  feather  flock  together.' " 

It  is  no  great  stretch  of  imagination  to  hear  one  of  our  ever-ready  after- 
dinner  speakers  saying: 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  see  before  me  a  dish  of  mustard.  A  simple  object 
to  be  sure;  yet  it  reminds  me  of  other  days.  It  reminds  me  that  mustard 
bites.  (Here  story  of  the  mustard  plaster  of  childhood.)  But,  Mr. 
Chairman,  mustard  is  not  the  only  thing  that  bites.  Dogs  bite,  horses 
bite,  tigers  bite,  and  even  birds,  though  toothless,  bite.  Yes,  setting 
hens  bite,  and  the  other  day  I  learned  that  flamingoes  bite.  (Story  of 
how  a  flock  of  flamingoes  bit  a  crocodile.)  Well,  Mr.  Chairman,  the  hour 
is  late,  and  I  will  only  take  time  to  observe  in  more  serious  vein,  that  we 
see  here  again  exemplified  the  old  adage,  "Birds  of  a  feather  flock  to- 
gether."    I  thank  you. 

Young  speakers  will  do  well  to  note  that  the  repetition 
of  "stories"  is  not  the  only  way  to  add  humor  to  a  speech. 
It  may  spring  from  the  whimsical  turn  of  a  phrase,  from 
placing  in  juxtaposition  an  opponent's  incongruous  argu- 
ments, from  a  comical  bit  of  narration  or  description,  with- 
out at  all  going  outside  the  proper  materials  of  the  speech, 
or  checking  its  movement.  This  may  be  illustrated  from 
a  student's  speech  on  athletics:^ 

"Unconsciously  we  have  made  a  huge  caricature  of  the  whole  busi- 
ness. .  .  .  We  train  up  oiu-  athletes  as  did  the  colonial  cavalier  his 
fighting  cocks,  or  as  does  the  modern  millionaire  his  racing  horse;  we 
specially  feed  them,  transport  them  in  special  trains;  we  yell  for  them, 
bet  on  them  and  weep  over  them.  If  it  were  not  so  serious  it  would  be 
highly  humorous,  the  sight  of  our  five-thousand  dollar  coaches  and 
trainers, — intelligent  men  for  the  most  part, — running  around  after  their 
charges,  coddling  them  and  denying  them,  looking  solicitously  after 
their  appetites,  seeing  that  they  are  properly  rubbed  down,  tucking  them 

^ Alice  in  Wonderland,  Chap.  IX. 

^Tendencies  of  American  Athletics,  by  W.  W.  Taylor,  Cornell,  '07, 
winner  of  the  Central  Oratorical  League  contest  in  1906.  See  Shurter's 
Rhetoric  of  Oratory,  p.  219. 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  201 

into  bed,  turning  out  the  lights,  aye,  and  report  has  it,  even  praying  for 
them  in  a  fashion  all  their  own." 

Here  and  in  several  other  places  in  the  speech  the 
speaker  amused  his  hearers  without  in  the  least  going  out  of 
his  way.    All  the  humor  served  to  impress  emphatic  ideas. 

The  funny  story  is  much  in  vogue  and  undoubtedly  has  its  use  as  well 
as  its  abuse.  A  word  about  the  means  of  having  a  supply  is  in  order. 
AVhile  we  like  old  jokes,  about  fat  men  and  about  mothers-in-law,  still 
they  do  pall  upon  the  taste  when  we  hear  them  often  told  in  the  same 
form,  and  listeners  are  rather  apt  to  murmur,  "That's  an  old  one," 
especially  when  they  are  told  as  new.  Joke  books  may  help  (Shurter's 
Jokes  I  Have  Met,  is  as  good  as  any) ;  but  as  one's  fellow  sufferers  at  a 
banquet  may  have  had  recourse  to  the  same  work,  a  speaker  does  well 
to  have  a  private  supply.  It  may  prove  worth  while  to  preserve  in  a 
scrapbook  or  card  index  such  stories  as  appeal  to  one  as  possibly  useful 
in  future  speeches. 

Interest  in  Conflict.  We  have  an  instinctive  interest  in 
conflict./  We  may  hate  it,  dread  it,  joy  in  it,  but  are 
rarely  indifferent  to  it,  whether  it  takes  the  form  of  a  dog 
fight,  of  athletic  struggles,  of  war,  of  business  competition, 
or  of  a  struggle  with  nature.  We  also  like  stories  of  con- 
flict, so  told  that  through  imagination  we  become  specta- 
tors of  or  participants  in  the  struggle. 

At  times  a  speaker  can  utilize  this  interest  by  throwing 
his  speech,  or  a  part  of  it,  into  a  narrative  of  the  conflict 
with  the  forces  of  the  opposition,  whether  those  forces 
consist  of  men,  as  in  war,  politics  and  commerce,  or  of 
natural  obstacles,  as  in  building  a  canal  or  overcoming 
disease.  No  doubt  interest  is  keenest  where  the  conflict 
is  with  men,  where  passions  are  aroused;  but  enmity  is 
not  necessary.  The  story  of  the  heroic  period  of  an  enter- 
prise or  reform  will  usually  hold  attention. 

Antagonizing  the  Audience.  /  Another  and  quite  differ- 
ent way  to  utilize  the  interest' of  conflict  is  to  antagonize 
one's  hearers;  as,  by  statements  contrary  to  their  beliefs, 
or   by   condemning   their   customs   or   their   heroes./  A 


202  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

speaker  may  startle  a  sleepy  audience  into  attention  by  a 
sweeping  statement  which  he  later  modifies.  The  speaker, 
instanced  before,  w^ho  seemed  to  advocate  anarchy,  was 
employing  antagonism  as  well  as  suspense.  There  would 
have  been  little  point  to  an  orthodox  refutation  of  anarchy 
})efore  an  audience  convinced  of  its  awfulness;  but  after 
becoming  excited  by  an  argument  for  anarchy  they  listened 
with  relief  while  he  demolished  it.  A  student  preaching 
the  advantages  of  "student  activities"  would  get  better 
attention,  if  he  first  stated  very  fairly  the  argument  against 
them.  The  method  secures  more  thinking  on  the  part 
of  the  audience.  Manifestly,  if  the  speaker  wishes  to 
get  more  than  attention  from  his  hearers,  antagonizing 
them  is  a  dangerous  game  to  play;  and  one  who  plays  it 
should  be  confident  of  his  ability  to  keep  cool  and  to 
restore  his  audience  to  good  humor. 

I  consider  only  the  question  of  interest  here  and  not  at  all  the  moral 
question  involved.  I  assume  that  speakers  will  say,  in  one  way  or  another, 
what  they  believe,  and  will  not  try  to  deceive.  I  recognize,  too,  that  at 
times  one  may  feel  it  his  duty  to  antagonize  an  audience. 

I  Interest  in  Activity.  /  "Nothing  is  more  interesting  than 
i  person,  an  animal,  even  a  machine,  in  action.  Much  of 
the  strength  of  window^  demonstrations,  street  vending, 
etc.,  depends  on  this  fact.  The  New  York  Herald  has  no 
better  advertisement  than  the  sight  of  its  presses,  from  the 
windows  on  Broadway."^  Probably  all  students  will 
recognize  the  picture  of  "a  room  full  of  college  students 
suddenly  becoming  perfectly  still  to  watch  a  professor  of 
physics  tie  a  piece  of  string  about  a  stick  he  was  going  to 
use  in  an  experiment,  but  immediately  grow  restless  when 
he  began  to  explain  the  experiment."  The  appeal  of 
action  may  be  added  to  a  speech  sometimes  by  the  use  of 
apparatus,  but  more  often  by  a  measure  of  acting,  by 
gesture,  by  the  rapid  narration  of  events  and  by  descrip- 

^Hollingworth,  Advertising  and  Selling,  p.  114. 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  ^OS 

tions  of  animated  scenes  .^We  see  here  the  relation  of  this 
topic  to  imagination. 

Illustrations  can  be  found  in  the  selections,  Who  is  to  Blame?  and 
Await  the  Issue,  printed  at  the  end  of  Chapter  IX,  and  in  Wendell 
Phillips's  Toussaint  L'Ouverture. 

Concreteness.  What  has  been  said  of  concreteness  in 
Chapters  III  and  IV  should  be  reviewed  and  applied  to 
/audiences,  for  they  need  concrete  expression  even  more 
than  the  speaker  himself.  Great  speeches  will  be  found 
notably  concrete  in  language  and  abounding  in  illustra- 
tions; and  experienced  speakers,  at  least  those  who  succeed 
with  general  audiences,  tend  to  grow  more  and  more  con- 
crete. I  heard  a  noted  scholar,  now  distinctly  concrete  in 
his  speech,  say,  "When  I  returned  from  Europe,  filled  with 
the  German  abstract  philosophy,  my  audiences  did  not 
ask  me  to  come  again . ' '  Highly  trained  thinkers  may  hold 
unnecessary  the  wealth  of  fact  and  incident  which  ex- 
perienced speakers  put  into  their  discourse;  but  the  speak- 
ers know  that  the  less  highly  trained  will  hardly  make  an 
effort  to  listen  to  abstractions,  but  will  wait  till  their 
speakers  "come  down  to  cases."  Narratives,  examples, 
illustrations,  fables,  parables — these  hold  attention  and 
stick   in   memory. 

We  recall  the  less  usual  meanings  of  the  term  concrete. 
Our  ideas  should  be  clothed  in  familiar  terms,  such  as 
require  no  translation.  These  will  be  of  the  best  English, 
the  English  known  to  all,  the  words  we  acquire  early  in 
life  and  which  have  the  greatest  significance  for  us.  These 
familiar  words  will  not  be  bookish  or  "big."  It  does  not 
matter  what  language  they  are  derived  from,  nor  whether 
they  are  long  or  short,  just  so  they  are  famihar  and  suit- 
able; though  they  T\all  more  often  than  not  be  Saxon  and 
short. 

There  are  obvious  limitations  on  this  doctrine:  less  familiar  words 
may  be  needed  for  accuracy,  and  even  for  force,  and  the  more  specialized 


204  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

one's  subject  the  greater  the  need  for  technical  language,  But  the  use 
of  technical  and  unfamiliar  words  should  not  be  extended  beyond  what 
is  necessary. 

Long  and  short  words  and  Latin  and  Saxon  derivatives  are  discussed 
in  Spencer's  Philosophy  of  Style.  You  will  find  a  simple  and  specific 
statement  of  what  good  sense  and  good  taste  decree  on  the  use  of  words, 
in  Hill's  Foundations  of  Rhetoric,  under  the  heading,  Words  to  Choose. 

Again,  we  recall  that  the  average  man  is  practical  in  his 
thinking,  and  will  be  chiefly  interested  in  the  applications 
of  your  ideas.  He  may  dismiss  the  whole  matter  unless  he 
sees  early  in  your  address  that  you  are  coming  to  a 
practical  application.     Says  Dewey  :^ 

"For  the  great  majority  of  men  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, the  practical  exigencies  of  life  are  almost,  if  not 
quite,  coercive.  Their  main  business  is  the  proper  conduct 
of  their  affairs.  Whatever  is  of  significance  only  as  afford- 
ing scope  for  thinking  is  pallid  and  remote — almost 
artificial.  Hence  the  contempt  felt  by  the  successful 
executive  for  the  "mere  theorist";  hence  his  conviction 
that  certain  things  may  be  all  very  well  in  theory,  but  that 
they  will  not  do  in  practice;  in  general,  the  depreciatory 
way  in  which  he  uses  the  terms,  abstract,  theoreticaly  and 
intellectual — as  distinct  from  intelligent.'' 

A  group  of  men  listen  to  a  professor  of  physics  explaining  gyrostatic 
motion.  At  the  end  the  questions  show  that  the  chief  interest  is  in  such 
practical  questions  as  how  the  principle  afifects  automobiles  on  curves. 
Some  of  the  scientific  men  present  inquire  about  more  theoretical  applica- 
tions, but  their  questions  are  practical  to  them.  The  so-called  practical 
man  might  consider  the  above  quotation  from  Dewey,  "moonshine"; 
but  I  find  it  interesting  because  I  see  its  practical  applications. 

Once  your  average  man  has  derived  an  interest  in  a 
subject  through  some  practical  application,  he  may  be 
carried  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the  practical. 

Be  Specific  with  Audiences.  /  Generalizations  have 
their  place,  but  they  should  usually  be  accompanied  by 
specific  expressions  when  strong  impression  is  desired. 
If  you  wish  to  say  of  a  man  that  he  has  known  many  of 

^How  We  Think,  p.  138. 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  205 

the  great  of  his  time,  it  may  be  better  to  say,  He  has  met 
and  talked  familiarly  with  Gladstone,  Bismark,  Cavour 
and  many  another  of  the  great  of  his  day — thus  securing 
the  advantages  of  both  general  and  specific  statement. 
Macaulay  writes : 

"DowTi  went  the  old  church  of  France,  with  all  its  pomp  and  power. 
The  churches  were  closed;  the  bells  were  silent;  the  shrines  were  plun- 
dered; the  silver  crucifixes  were  melted  down;  buffoons  dressed  in  sur- 
plices came  dancing  the  carmagnole,  even  to  the  bar  of  the  convention." 

The  statement  grows  more  vivid  and  imagination  is 
touched  as  the  specific  items  are  added.  But  to  enumerate 
is  only  one  way  to  be  specific.  One  can  say  maple  instead 
of  tree,  Sam  Adams  instead  of  one  of  the  Revolutionary 
Fathers,  or  it  snowed  instead  of  the  weather  was  bad. 
Consider  the  difference  in  vividness  caused  by  the  sub- 
stitution of  walked  for  went  in  He  went  down  the  street; 
and  then  substitute  for  walked  one  of  these:  marched, 
paced,  plodded,  sauntered,  hurried,  shuffled,  shambled, 
slunk,  staggered,  strode,  swaggered.  The  specific  terms 
pro^^oke  a  mental  image,  and  the  desired  mental  image, 
more  quickly  and  certainly  than  the  general  expression. 
The  word  tree  may  call  up  an  elm,  when  the  speaker 
meant  a  maple  tree;  or  just  a  vague  any  sort  of  tree,  or 
no  tree  at  all.  Moreover,  as  our  emotional  associations 
group  themselves  about  particular  things,  the  specific 
term  is  more  likely  to  find  firm  footing  in  the  mind. 

Specific  and  General  Illustrations.  It  has  been  pointed 
out^  that  illustrations,  which  are  by  their  nature  concrete, 
may  be  either  general  or  specific.  The  statement  that 
college  education  is  not  necessary  to  the  development  of 
strong  men,  may  be  given  this  general  illustration: 
We  have  had  many  great  statesmen,  warriors,  inventors 
and  business  men  who  enjoyed  but  meagre  school- 
ing; but  we  come  to  specific  instance  with — 
^Phillips,  Effective  Speaking,  p.  89. 


206  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

"Abraham  Lincoln  had  learned  at  school  only  the  three  R's.  .  .  .  Pres- 
ident Andrew  Johnson,  a  former  tailor,  visited  no  school.  .  .  .  Andrew 
Carnegie  began  his  commercial  career  when  twelve  years  of  age,  as  a 
factory  hand.  .  .  .  Edison  was  engaged  in  selling  papers  when 
twelve  years  of  age." 

The  general  illustration  has  the  advantages  of  giving 
fuller  scope  to  the  idea  and  of  not  checking  the  hearer 
in  supplying  instances  from  his  own  experience;  but  it  is 
comparatively  vague  and  there  is  no  certainty  that  the 
hearer  will  be  able,  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  to  support 
the  statement  with  any  instances  at  all.  The  specific 
instance  limits  the  scope,  but  is  more  certain  to  provoke 
response  and  to  add  to  the  convincingness  of  a  statement; 
provided  the  instances  given  have  strong  associations 
in  the  minds  of  one's  hearers. 

Imagination  and  Attention  of  the  Audience.  If  a 
speaker  in  his  preparation  duly  exercises  his  imagination 
and  gives  it  ample  material  to  work  upon,  he  will  tend  to 
express  his  thoughts  in  such  forms  as  will  stimulate  the 
imagination  of  his  hearers.  This  is  a  tendency  to  be 
encouraged.  Every  teacher  and  every  speaker  knows 
he  can  hold  attention  longer  with  experiments,  with 
objects  and  processes  to  see,  than  with  words  alone. 
But  since  the  actual  presentation  of  the  things  discussed 
is  limited,  maps,  charts,  diagrams  and  stereopticon  pic- 
tures are  brought  into  play  when  feasible.  So  strong  is 
their  command  of  attention  that  it  is  a  disadvantage  to 
have  them  present  when  one  does  not  wish  his  audience 
to  look  at  them. 

I  recently  heard  a  young  lecturer  who  permitted  his  operator  to 
run  off  near  the  end  of  his  discourse,  a  series  of  views  having  no  im- 
mediate connection  with  what  he  was  saying.  Needless  to  say,  that  part 
of  an  interesting  lecture  was  lost. 

In  the  majority  of  cases,  the  use  of  pictures  and  charts 
is  impracticable   or  undesirable,   but  their  effectiveness^ 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  207 

serves  to  impress  upon  us  the  fact  that  a  speak-er_5dio_.cail__ 

fill  the  minds  of  his  audience  with  images  of  sight,  sound"^^^*^^ — 

and  motion,  is  pretty  sure  of  attention.    [Of  the  speaker 

who  cannot  stir  imagination,  one  writer^  lias  gone  so  far 

as  to  say:     "A  man  who  cannot  translate  his  concepts 

into  definite  images  of  the  proper  objects  is  fitted  neither 

to  teach,  preach,  nor  practice  any  profession.     He  should 

waste  as  little  as  possible  of  the  time  of  his  fellow-mortals 

by  talking  to  them." 

Imagination  and  the  Materials  of  a  Speech.  One  does 
not  have  to  introduce  special  material  for  the  purpose 
of  rousing  imagination,  but  can  use  the  proper  materials 
of  his  speech.  The  facts  in  regard  to  the  life  of  Lincoln 
can  be  woven  together  to  make  him  stand  before  us  a 
living  man;  the  facts  upon  which  one  bases  his  argument 
for  airbitration  can  be  arranged  so  as  to  make  conditions 
real.  |  Narration  and  description  are  the  chief  means  of 
accomplishing  these  ends  ;|  and  the  study  of  works  which 
deal  with  these  forms  of  discourse  is  recommended, 
though  the  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  they  are  pre- 
pared for  the  student  of  written  rather  than  of  oral 
discourse.^ 

If  you  were  discussing  the  fortification  of  the  Panama 
Canal,  the  prospects  of  the  Mexican  people,  the  causes 
of  the  European  war,  the  safeguarding  of  passengers  on 
steamships,  the  business  future  of  the  South,  the  promise 
of  a  railroad  your  hearers  are  asked  to  finance,  the  best 
kind  of  a  steam  plant  for  a  certain  factory, — in  all  these 
cases,  both  for  clearness  and  for  interest,  you  would 
wish  so  to  group  your  facts  that  your  hearers  would 
imaginatively  realize  situations,  conditions  and  events. 
Some  speeches  will  fall  naturally  into  narrative  or  into 

^Halleck,  Psychology  and  Psychic  Culture,  p.  188. 

'Gardiner's  Forms  of  Prose  Discourse,  Lamont's  English  Composition 
and  Baldwin's  Composition  Oral  and  Written,  are  suggested.  Use  their 
indices. 


208  PUBLIC    SPEAKING 

descriptive  form;  but  others  \\all  more  conveniently 
take  an  expository  or  an  argumentative  form.  These, 
however,  may  need  narrative  or  descriptive  passages, 
as  in  explaining  or  arguing  about  the  causes  of  a  war, 
or  the  wisdom  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  Besides  the 
necessary  description^'  of  places,  situations  and  major 
events,  there  is  also  opportunity  for  enlivening  discourse 
by  descriptions  of  personalities  and  by  anecdotes. 

Analogy,  l  We  may  reach  out  beyond  the  necessary 
materials  of  a  speech  and  touch  imagination  by  the  use 
of  analogies,  comparisons  and  figures  of  speech.|  For 
examples  of  analogy  we  may  turn  to  the  selection  from 
Huxley  at  the  end  of  Chapter  IX. 

Illustration,  of  one  form  or  another,  is  of  the  very  life 
of  speech.  No  one  can  be  unconscious  of  the  satisfac- 
tion, the  relief  from  strain,  the  coming  back  to  attention, 
when  a  speaker  follows  a  theoretical  discussion  with, 
"To  illustrate."  Illustrations  can  best  be  studied  in 
complete  speeches  or  long  excerpts  such  as  it  is  not  feasible 
to  include  here.  One  also  needs  something  of  the  situa- 
tion to  appreciate  a  good  illustration.  But  the  subject 
is  of  such  importance  that  I  shall  emphasize  a  few  points 
in  regard  to  the  use,  of  illustrations. 

First  suggestion:  vlTake  care  that  each  illustration 
adds  its  strength  to  that  which  deserves  emphasis  in 
your  speech,  and  does  not  obscure  that  by  unduly  em- 
phasizing minor  points.  \  Resist  the  temptation  to  use 
a  good  story  or  striking  picture  for  its  own  sake,  regardless 
of  the  worth  of  the  idea  that  it  strengthens.  Do  not 
"work  illustrations  in"  if  they  are  not  strictly  pat,  no  mat- 
ter how  amusing,  or  stirring,  or  beautiful.  Your  hearers 
will  either  puzzle  over  the  relation  which  should  exist, 
or  they  vdW  be  drawn  off  to  the  thought  the  illustration 
really  does  illumine.  A  speaker  who  is  privileged  to  hear 
the  comments  of  his  auditors  will  often  be  pained  at  the 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  209 

number  of  instances  in  which  their  attention  has  been 
caught  by  some  idea  incidental  to  an  illustration  used, 
while  the  main  thought  has  escaped  them.  You  may 
expect  your  illustrations  to  be  remembered  longest; 
they  should  therefore  be  of  such  a  character  that  they  will 
recall  to  mind  your  major  ideas. 

I  heard  a  noted  advocate  of  equal  suffrage  spend  a  third  of  her  address 
on  the  ilhistration  of  a  minor  point  in  her  argument, — that  the  country 
people  before  her  should  be  interested  in  the  rights  and  wrongs  of  city 
workers.  This  suggested  the  truth  that  all  the  world  to-day  is  bound 
together  by  common  interests;  and  this  point  she  illustrated  by  the 
effect  that  a  change  of  administration  in  Korea  had  upon  an  industry 
in  a  New  York  town.  For  fifteen  minutes  she  described  very  beauti- 
fully life  in  Korea,  while  we  forgot  the  suffrage  and  even  the  direct 
application  of  her  illustration. 

Second  suggestion:  Use  only  illustrations  which  are 
congruous  with  the  spirit  of  your  speech  and  of  the  occa- 
sion. Beware,  for  example,  of  frivolous  illustrations  on 
serious  occasions  and  of  such  as  will  seem  pretentious 
and  over-serious  on  lighter  occasions.  It  should  be  noted, 
however,  that  illustrations,  especially  of  a  narrative  charac- 
ter, are  useful  in  gradually  changing  the  spirit  of  an 
audience. 

Third  suggestion:  |  Do  not  use  unnecessary  details, 
but  choose  those  needed  to  make  the  picture,  j  To  give 
every  detail  is  to  stifle  imagination;  as  a  photograph  may 
suggest  less  than  a  few  strokes  of  an  artist's  brush.  The 
street  urchin  I  heard  replying  to  his  chum's  question, 
"How  is  the  ice?"  with,  "Fine;  so  clear  you  can  see  a 
snake  on  the  bottom!"  could  not  have  improved  the  pic- 
ture of  good  skating  with  any  number  of  details.  Do  not 
let  needless  preliminary  details  take  more  time  than  the 
incident.  A  formal  introduction  is  not  always  necessary, 
not  even  "To  illustrate."  Instead  of  along  preamble,  as, 
This  reminds  me  of  a  man  who  used  to  live  in  our  town, 
who  had    a    son    named    John,  who  would  jiot   go    to 


210  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

school.  So  the  father  decided  he  would  find  a  way  to 
impress  the  desirability  of  school  upon  his  son.  So  one 
morning  he  said  to  John,  at  the  breakfast  table,  says  he, 
"John,  etc.," — instead  of  all  this  rigmarole,  in  most  cases 
it  would  be  better  to  say.  As  a  father  said  to  his  son  who 
would  not  go  to  school,  etc. 

Fourth  suggestion:  On  the  other  hand  there  must 
be  {details.  How  many  it  isj  useless  to  attempt  to  say: 
enough  to  serve  the  purpose.  I  If  needed  details  are  omit- 
ted the  audience  may  make  no  imaginative  effort;  or 
may  supply  wrong  details. 

If  you  "^dsh  them  to  imagine  a  scene  of  great  animation, 
you  must  give  enough  details  of  life  and  movement  to 
prevent  their  imagining  a  lifeless  scene.  However,  it  is 
generally  true  that  fewer  details  are  needed  when  you 
wish  to  convey  merely  an  impression  than  when  you 
wish  your  hearers  to  form  an  image  substantially  correct ; 
as  when  you  msh  a  board  of  directors  to  know  the  pro- 
posed arrangement  of  a  factory^  or  a  ]uTy  to  realize  exactly 
how  the  parties  to  a  tragedy  were  grouped.  There  may 
be  times  when  elaboration  is  desired  simply  to  hold  atten- 
tion upon  the  illustration  longer,  in  order  to  deepen  the 
impression. 

Suflficiency  of  details  is  often  consistent  with  brevity. 
Much  is  gained  by  using  specific  words.  If  instead  of 
saying  building,  you  say  tower  or  church,  your  hearers 
have  the  right  image  at  once,  and  no  further  detail  may  be 
needed.  It  is  not  necessarj^  to  give  each  detail  a  separate 
statement.  To  illustrate  both  this  and  the  preceding 
hint,  if  you  say.  The  army  was  moving  along  a  stream, 
you  still  need  several  details,  lest  your  hearers  see  a  creek 
when  you  mean  a  considerable  river,  and  see  the  army 
on  the  left  bank  going  north,  when  you  wish  them  to  see 
the  army  on  the  right  bank  going  south.  But  if  you  say, 
General  Jones  was  hurr>4ng  with  his   cavalry  division 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  211 

down  the  right  bank  of  the  Delaware  River  to  reach  the 
ford  at  X,  several  essential  points  have  been  economically 
conveyed,  and  yet  given  sufficient  prominence. 

You  should  beware  of  asking  an  audience  to  carry  in  mind  a  very 
elaborate  mass  of  details;  and  when  complexity  is  necessary  you  should 
use  charts,  pictures  and  models.  I  hear  students  trying  to  explain 
complicated  apparatus,  and  requiring  their  hearers  to  put  in  order  in 
imagination  so  many  thingumbobs  articulating  in  so  many  ways  with 
so  many  thingumjigs,  that  the  class  gives  up  and  waits  politely  for  the 
end.  Even  with  diagrams  and  all  possible  aids,  some  explanations  are 
impossible  in  a  short  speech,  and  these  should  simply  not  be  attempted. 
The  answers  to  criticism,  "Why  I  said  so  and  so,"  and  "I  thought  any- 
body could  understand  that,"  are  no  answers  at  all. 

An  analogy  may  be  helpful  in  explaining  a  complicated  situation. 
A  famous  example  is  that  by  Hugo  beginning,  "Those  who  wish  to  form 
a  distinct  idea  of  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  need  only  imagine  a  capital  A 
laid  on  the  ground."  The  description  that  follows  is  well  worth  looking 
up.^  The  elevation  on  which  the  Northern  army  lay  on  the  third  day 
of  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  has  been  compared  to  an  enormous  fish- 
hook, with  Little  Round  Top  hill  at  the  eye  of  the  hook,  the  cemetery 
at  the  beginning  of  the  bend,  which  curves  away  from  Lee's  main  posi- 
tion, bringing  the  two  wings  of  Meade's  army  rather  close  together. 

Fifth  suggestion:  j^^The  success  of  any  piece  of  word 
painting  will  depend,  much  upon  order  of  details.  I  It  has 
been  proved  that  the  time  taken  by  an  experienced 
mechanic  in  assembling  a  machine,  can  be  cut  down  two- 
thirds  by  providing  him  a  rack  which  presents  the  parts 
to  his  hands  in  the  best  order.  Somewhat  similar  is 
the  increase  in  your  hearers'  imaginative  effectiveness 
when  you  give  them  details  in  the  right  order.  If  some 
needed  detail  is  not  given  in  time,  your  hearers  may  be  at 
a  loss,  or  may  supply  it  wrongly,  and  then  have  to  "re- 
assemble" the  whole.  The  illustration  above  of  describ- 
ing the  movement  of  an  army,  may  be  applied  here  also. 

That  this  suggestion  is  not  merely  one  of  the  notions  of  fussy  peda- 
gogues, may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  so  great  a  thinker  as  Herbert 
Spencer  has  laid  stress  upon  the  order  of  details  in  an  image,  going  so 

^Les  Miserahles:     Cosette,  Book  I,  Chapter  IV. 


212  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

far  as  to  weigh  the  relative  advantages  of  the  English  and  the  French 
orders  in  a  black  horse  and  a  horse  black,  and  deciding  in  favor  of  the 
former  on  the  ground  that  when  one  hears  the  word  horse  he  is  likely 
to  image  a  bay  horse,  and  thus  have  to  reconstruct  his  mental  image 
when  black  is  added.  We  may  agree  with  critics  that  Spencer  pressed 
his  point  too  far,  but  not  on  the  ground  that  the  effort  of  reconstruction 
is  too  slight  to  matter.  "Mony  a  mickle  makes  a  muckle,"  and  the  nerve 
force  wasted  in  listening  to  a  half-hour  address  may  prove  considerable. 
Often  as  one  listens  in  conversation  to  a  description  or  narration,  he 
is  deeply  puzzled  until  some  missing  detail  is  given.  "Oh,"  he  says, 
"that  is  what  stuck  me.  Now^  it  begins  to  clear  up";  and  he  straightens 
out  the  matter  by  asking  questions  and  rearranging  details.  But  one 
who  listens  to  a  speech  usually  cannot  do  this. 

Sixth  svggettion:  ! Consider  jour  audience  in  choosing 
illustrations.  First,  you  should  consider  what  illustra- 
tions your  audience  vriW  understand.  \The  references 
to  Dick  Turpin,  Jeremy  Diddler  and  Jonathan  Wild, 
in  the  selection,  \^  ho  is  to  Blame?  are  open  to  criticism. 
I  refer  here  to  brief  allusions.  If  time  permits  and  the 
illustration  is  worth  it,  sufficient  explanation  to  make  it 
intelligible  may,  of  course,  be  given.  Secondly,  when  you 
use  illustration  for  the  sake  of  interest,  you  should  draw 
from  fields  which  interest  your  hearers.  Thirdly,  you, 
should  consider  what  associations  you  may  be  stirring  up. |f 
You  can  get  the  interest  of  old  soldiers  by  illustrations*  , 
drawn  from  the  Civil  War;  but  in  your  Memorial  Day 
address  in  the  North  you  had  better  not  confine  yourself 
•to  Bull  Run,  Chancellorsville  and  other  defeats,  nor 
in  the  South  would  you  choose  Sherman's  "bummers" 
to  illustrate  reckless  daring.  Not  only  may  unfortunate 
illustrations  provoke  unpleasant  feelings,  but  also  they 
may  distract  attention  from  your  main  thought.  An 
illustration,  even  though  apt  and  applied  to  the  central 
thought,  may  be  too  interesting,  whether  the  feelings 
be  pleasant  or  unpleasant.  If  one  to-day  draws  an  illus- 
tration from  the  European  war,  he  risks  losing  atten- 
tion. 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  213 

Sources  of  Material  for  Illustration.  The  possible 
sources  are  too  numerous  to  mention;  but  illustrations 
are  so  little  used  by  student  speakers  that  some  sugges- 
tions are  justified.  Besides  such  general  sources  as  poli- 
tics, history,  literature,  science  and  religion,  we  have  tTie 
special  suggestions  of  the  time  and  place  of  speaking, 
the  events  which  are  filling  the  press,  or  are  still  fresh  in 
memory,  and  the  direct  experiences  of  the  audiences. 
It  is  well  to  note  also  that  there  is  a  pleasurable  interest 
in  merely  recalling  events  of  the  more  distant  past.  The 
old  especially  will  awaken  to  interest  when  you  remind 
them  of  events,  important  or  unimportant,  which  once 
held  their  attention,  though  long  out  of  mind.  "Yes," 
said  an  old  maji  with  wistful  interest,  "I  remember  I 
was  a  little  boy  when  the  war  with  Mexico  broke  out. 
Father  used  to  read  to  us  out  of  the  papers  about  General 
Taylor  and  Santa  Anna." 

Among  the  more  tangible  sources  of  illustration  are 
such  history  and  literature  as  come  within  common 
knowledge:  Shakespeare,  ^Esop's  fables,  American  his- 
tory and  the  Bible  are  perhaps  the  commonest  sources 
before  general  audiences.  A  student  of  affairs  has  attrib- 
uted something  of  Mr.  Bryan's  power  with  such  audiences 
to  the  fact  that  he  has  "the  Bible  and  American  history 
at  his  tongue's  end."  This  does  not  mean  that  Mr. 
Bryan  has  a  scholar's  knowledge  of  American  history  and 
the  Bible,  but  that  he  has  a  good  command  of  the  better 
known  facts. 

It  is  interesting  to  read,  in  connection  with  that  statement,  Mr. 
Bryan's  own  discussion  of  illustration.^  He  says  that  nature  and 
literatvu-e  are  the  two  sources,  and  nature,  in  which  term  he  evidently 
includes  human  nature,  is  the  more  important.  People  know  nature 
better  than  they  know  books,  and  the  illustrations  drawn  from  everyday 
life  are  the  most  effective.     To  quote: 

^Introduction  to  his  World's  Famous  Orations,  p.  xiii. 


214  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

"If  the  orator  can  seize  upon  something  within  sight  or  hearing  of 
his  audience — something  that  comes  to  his  notice  at  the  moment  and 
as  if  not  thought  of  before — it  will  add  to  the  eflectiveness  of  the  illus- 
tration. For  instance,  Paul's  speech  to  the  Athenians  derived  a  large 
part  of  its  strength  from  the  fact  that  he  called  attention  to  an  altar 
near  by,  erected  'to  the  Unknown  God,'  and  then  proceeded  to  declare 
unto  them  the  God  whom  they  ignorantly  worshipped. 

"Classical  allusions  ornament  a  speech,  their  value  being  greater  of 
course  when  addressed  to  those  who  are  familiar  with  their  source. 
Poetry  can  often  be  used  to  advantage.  .  .  .  By  far  the  most 
useful  quotations  for  the  orator,  however,  are  those  from  Holy  "Writ. 
The  people  are  more  familiar  with  the  Bible  than  with  any  other  single 
book,  and  lessons  drawn  from  it  reinforce  a  speech.  The  Proverbs 
of  Solomon  abound  in  sentences  which  aptly  express  living  truths. 
Abraham  Lincoln  used  scripture  quotations  very  frequently  and  very 
powerfully.  Probably  no  Bible  quotation,  or,  for  that  matter,  no 
quotation  from  any  book,  ever  has  had  more  influence  upon  the  people 
than  the  famous  quotation  made  by  Lincoln  in  his  Springfield  speech 
of  1858, — 'A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.'  It  is  said  that 
he  had  searched  for  some  time  for  a  phrase  that  would  present  in  the 
strongest  possible  way  the  proposition  he  intended  to  advance — namely, 
that  the  nation  could  not  endure  half -slave  and  half -free." 

A  very  important  source  of  illustration  is  observation. 
The  speaker  who  observes  human  life  and  its  various 
occupations,  talks  wdth  all  sorts  of  men,  looks  straight 
at  things  and  asks  questions  until  he  understands  them, 
will  gather  a  mass  of  illustrative  material  that  will  serve 
him  in  good  stead  when  needed. 

Webster,  standing  one  morning  at  daybreak  on  the  heights  of  Quebec, 
heard  the  drumbeat  from  the  fortress  and  fell  to  thinking  of  the  extent 
of  England's  power.  Years  after,  when  wishing  to  impress  upon  the 
Senate  the  rash  courage  of  our  forefathers  in  resisting  so  great  a  power, 
he  does  not  content  himself  with  statistics  of  England's  army  and  navy 
and  wealth,  but  illuminates  all  with, — 

"They  raised  their  flag  against  a  power  to  which,  for  purposes  of  for- 
eign conquest  and  subjugation,  Rome,  in  the  height  of  her  glory,  was  not 
to  be  compared,  a  power  which  has  dotted  over  the  surface  of  the  whole 
globe  with  her  possessions  and  military  posts;  whose  morning  drum- 
beat, following  the  sun,  and  keeping  company  with  the  hours,  circles 
the  earth  daily  with  one  continuous  and  imbroken  strain  of  the  martial 
airs  of  England." 

\  Figures  of  Speech.  \  The  consideration  of  analogies 
leads  us  naturally  to  figurative  language.  I  shall  not 
attempt  to  treat  of  the  reasons  why  "words,  singly  or  in 
composition,   diverted   from   their   original   meaning   to 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  215 

suggest  or  signify  something  analogous,"^  serve  to  add  to 
the  clearness  and  beauty  of  composition.  We  are  con- 
cerned with  figures  as  a  means  of  holding  attention. 
Wendell  treats  figures  under  the  head  of  Force,  which  he 
defines^  as  'rthe  emotional  quality  of  style,  ....  the 
distinguishing  quality  of  a  style  which  holds  the  atten- 
tion . "  j  We  are  particularly  interested  in  figures  here  because 
they  tend  to  create  images  in  the  mind. 

A  brief  review  of  speech  literature  will  convince  one 
that  there  is  force  in  figures  well  used.  We  shall  find 
that  many  of  those  passages  which  peculiarly  cling  to 
memory  are  enlivened  by  figure.  The  popular  declama- 
tions are  filled  with  figures;  such  as  Grady's  The  Univer- 
sity the  Training-Camp  of  the  Future,  with  a  metaphor 
in  its  title,  and  beginning,  '*We  are  standing  in  the  day- 
break of  the  second  century  of  this  republic.  The  fixed 
stars  are  fading  from  the  sky,  and  we  grope  in  uncertain 
light."  A  glance  through  Curtis 's  Leadership  of  Edu- 
cated men,  reveals  figures  in  almost  every  line.  Observe 
this  paragraph: 

"The  scholar  is  denounced  as  a  coward.  Humanity  falls  among 
thieves,  we  are  told,  and  the  college  Levite,  the  educated  Pharisee, 
pass  by  on  the  other  side.  Slavery  undermines  the  Republic,  but  the 
clergy  in  America  are  the  educated  class,  and  the  church  makes  itself 
the  bulwark  of  slavery.  Strong  drink  slays  its  tens  of  thousands,  but 
the  educated  class  leaves  the  gospel  of  temperance  to  be  preached  by 
the  ignorant  and  the  enthusiast,  as  the  English  Establishment  left  the 
preaching  of  regeneration  to  Methodist  itinerants  in  fields  and  barns. 
Vast  questions  cast  their  shadows  upon  the  future:  the  just  relations 
of  capital  and  labor;  the  distribution  of  land;  the  towering  power  of 
corporate  wealth;  reform  in  administrative  methods;  but  the  educated 
class,  says  the  critic,  instead  of  advancing  to  deal  with  them  promptly, 
wisely,  and  courageously,  and  settling  them  as  morning  dissipates 
the  night,  without  a  shock,  leaves  them  to  be  kindled  to  fury  by 
demagogues,  lifts  a  panic  cry  of  communism,  and  sinks  paralyzed  with 
terror." 

^Wendell,  English  Composition,  p.  245.     ^Idem,  .p  £86. 


210  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

One  may  be  surprised  on  examination  to  find  how 
constantly  one  uses  figures.  Even  if  some  student  says 
he  will  "leave  such  flowery  stuff  to  the  wind-jammers 
and  hot  air  artists,"  he  is  using  metaphors,  and  mixing 
them  too.  Figures  give  the  "punch"  to  slang.  Some- 
one has  said  that  language  is  but  a  nosegay  of  faded  meta- 
phors. Some  of  these  lie  partly  hidden  in  Latin  deriva- 
tives. "Attention  really  means  a  stretching  out  to- 
ward. .  .  .  Apprehend  is  nothing  more  or  less  than 
the  Latin  for  catch  on''^  More  plainly  we  see  the  figures 
in  daybreak,  a  wild  idea,  flight  of  time,  break  the  ice,  grit, 
fret.  We  cannot  help  using  figures  if  we  would.  It  is 
doubtful  if  one  should  often  seek  a  figure;  though  he  may 
when  wishing  a  rallying  cry,  or  other  expression  which 
he  very  especially  wishes  to  stick  in  mind.  But  since  we 
are  bound  to  use  figures,  and  since  well  used  they  have 
force  and  badly  used  may  be  absurd,  some  attention  to 
them  is  desirable. 

Wendell  finds^  that  the  essence  of  figure  is  "a  deep  sense 
of  connotation,"  and  that  their  good  use  demands  pri- 
marily sympathy;  that  is,  such  an  understanding  of  those 
addressed  as  will  enable  one  to  know  what  associations 
a  figure  will  arouse  in  their  minds.  The  comparison  should 
be   "broadly,   sympathetically  human." 

A  complete  treatment  of  figures  would  be  out  of  place  here.  Those 
not  familiar  with  the  subject  will  profit  by  turning  to  one  or  more  of 
the  following  works:  Hill's  Foundations  of  Rhetoric,  Wendell's  English 
Composition,  Spencer's  Philosophy  of  Style,  Genung's  Working  Prin- 
ciples of  Rhetoric.  Read  also  what  Whipple  says  on  the  subject  in  his 
essay,  Webster  as  a  Master  of  English  Style.  I  will  speak  only  of  the 
chief  danger  in  the  use  of  figures. 

The  chief  danger  lies  in  the  mixed  metaphor,  the  product  of  a  mind 
too  unimaginative  to  realize  that  it  is  using  figures,  or  of  a  very  nimble 
imagination  which  leaps  too  rapidly  from  picture  to  picture. 

Probably  few  are  capable  of  the  famous  bull:  "I  smell  a  rat,  I  see 
it  floating  in  the  air;  but  mind  you,  I  shall  nip  it  in  the  bud,"  or  of  that 

^Wendell,  English  Composition,  p.  248.     ^itJem,  pp.  255,  258. 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  217 

product  of  the  same  mind,  "I  stand  prostrate  before  the  throne."  These 
were  nearly  equalled,  however,  by  the  member  of  Parliament  who  de- 
clared that  the  British  lion,  "whether  roaming  the  plains  of  India,  or 
climbing  the  forests  of  Canada,  will  never  draw  in  his  horns  or  crawl 
into  his  shell."  "The  young  men  are  the  backbone  of  this  country," 
declared  a  speaker,  "and  that  backbone  should  be  brought  to  the  front." 
I  heard  a  preacher  depicting  a  young  girl  coming  forth  from  her  home 
to  go  tripping  o'er  the  sea  of  life,  while  the  devil  reaches  for  her  on  every 
hand. 

The  famous  "bulls"  are  only  especially  absurd  instances  of  what  any 
one  is  likely  to  produce  who  is  careless  in  his  use  of  words.  While 
the  slips  are  rarely  so  amusing  as  those  given  above,  they  may  be  quite 
as  confusing  to  those  hearers  who  have  active  imaginations. 

You  will  notice  that  the  absurdities  are  often  due  to  failure  to  recognize 
the  figures  in  hackneyed  expressions.  Backbone,  smell  a  rat,  sea  of  life, 
are  faded  metaphors,  but  are  still  too  strongly  figurative  to  be  used 
freely  in  disregard  of  their  original  meanings.  The  best  suggestion 
for  avoiding  error  is  that  we  should  develop  the  habit  of  vizualizing  our 
expressions.  No  man  who  does  this  will  make  the  ship  of  state  jump 
the  rails,  or  break  the  backbone  of  a  cold  wave. 

A  well  developed  sense  of  words,  such  as  is  acquired  by  language  study, 
is  a  great  safeguard.^  Every  speaker  should  develop  some  sense  of 
the  figures  which  lie  in  the  plain  English  forms,  at  least;  such  as  standard, 
safeguard  and  hand.  Everyone  should  realize  that  a  standard  may  be 
raised  or  lowered,  but  hardly  laid  down  when  one  means  set  up;  and  that 
one  is  not  injured  at  the  hands  of  a  bulldog.  If  a  hearer  is  not  confused, 
he  is  at  least  distracted,  when  he  is  told  of  Goldwin  Smith  that  his 
"intellectual  activities  kept  pace  with  his  declining  years." 

Since  the  figures  to  which  our  attention  is  called  are  usually  either 
absurd  or  magnificent,  it  may  be  well  to  call  attention  to  some  of  homely 
force.  These  we  may  find  in  many  a  proverb,  such  as,  "A  biu-nt  child 
dreads  the  fire,"  "A  rolling  stone  gathers  no  moss."  Of  the  extreme 
abolitionists,  Beecher  said,  "They  are  trying  to  drive  the  wedge  into  the 
the  log  butt-end  foremost,  and  they  will  only  split  their  beetle."  And 
Robert  Collier  said  of  Beecher,  who  broke  through  the  traditional 
theology  of  his  church,  "He  was  an  oak  planted  in  a  washtub;  it  was  hard 
on  the  tub." 

Variations  in  Imagery.  We  should  note  again,  that 
individuals  differ  in  regard  to  their  dominating  forms  of 

^Cf.  Titchener,  Primer  of  Psychology,  p.  205. 


218  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

\magen\  These  differences  are  likely  to  affect  expres- 
sion; that  is,  an  eye-minded  person  in  describing  an  event 
is  likely  to  emphasize  the  visual  imagery,  dwelling 
upon  what  was  to  be  seen;  while  an  ear-minded  person 
will  emphasize  sounds.  A  pertinent  suggestion  arising 
from  these  facts  I  am  permitted  to  quote  as  follows: 
i*'If  the  speaker  is  a  visual,  and  his  audience  is  made  up 
predominantly  of  motors,  his  images  are  of  no  use.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  most  audiences  are  largely  visual;  but 
there  is  a  large  motor  element  everywhere,  a.nd  allowance 
must  be  made  for  it.  .  .  .  Another  thing  to  remember 
is  the  audince's  limits  of  attention.  Shift  from  one  type 
of  cue  to  another  on  the  part  of  the  lecturer  is  more  restful 
than  the  attempt  to  be  concrete  within  the  range  of  a 
single  kind  of  cue.  A  man  speaks  very  differently  on  the 
same  subject,  according  as  he  speaks  from  sight,  sound 
or  feel.  He  becomes  a  different  man;  his  language  and 
the  nature  of  his  appeal  are  different ;  and  so  the  audience 
does  noc  get  tired." 

Sustaining  Attention.  We  have  noted  that  novelty, 
curiosity,  and  sensational  methods,  while  they  may 
catch  attention,  will  not  of  themselves  hold  it;  but  what 
we  have  learned  of  derived  interest,  concreteness  and 
imaginatiqn  is  as  applicable  to  sustaining  as  to  gaining 
attention.)  And  what  we  shall  proceed  to  concerning 
composition  is  applicable  to  both  phases.  There  are, 
however,   some  special  considerations   under  this   head. 

The  principle  especially  in  mind  here  is  already  familiar 
from  Chapter  III.  Fix  in  mind  the  statement  quoted 
from  Professor  James  on  p.  73,  noting  in  particular, 
"The  subject  must  be  made  to  show  new  aspects  of  it- 
self; to  prompt  new  questions;  in  a  word  to  change." 
Few  phases  of  this  whole  subject  are  better  worth  our 
consideration  than  the  avoidance  of  monotony;  and  we 
are  now  prepared  to  enumerate  some  of  the  ways  of  pre- 
senting a  topic  with  due  variation.     They  can  be  used 

^A  letter  from  Professor  Titchener. 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  219 

only  by  a  man  "of  full  mind,  in  whom  the  subject  in 
hand  is  so  mastered  and  matured  that  his  thought  upon 
it  is  active  and  germinant."  ^|  Amplification  of  a  thought 
does  not  mean  dilution,  but  enrichment 

First,  we  have  the  various  phases  of  our  subject-matter. 
If  Lincoln  is  our  theme,  we  may  view  him  in  the  many 
phases  before  suggested.  If  we  have  narrowed  down 
to  Lincoln's  tact,  we  may  consider  his  tact  in  the  law 
court,  in  politics,  in  dealing  with  his  generals,  with  diplo- 
mats, etc.  If  the  theme  is  arbitration,  we  may  look  at 
its  economic  side,  its  social  side,  its  moral  side,  etc.  If 
we  speak  on  "Honesty  is  the  best  policy,"  we  may  treat 
it  first  theoretically,  then  practically;  and  then  we  may 
consider  honesty  in  social  life,  in  the  practice  of  law  or 
medicine,  or  in  selling  goods.  Taking  up  the  negro 
problem,  a  mind  at  all  familiar  with  that  subject  can  work 
out  twenty  phases  in  as  many  minutes.  But  since  we 
must  usually  treat  but  one  small  part  of  a  subject,  we 
must  carry  analysis  further.  From  the  negro  question 
we  may  select  the  negro  in  slavery;  then,  even  without 
study,  we  think  of  how  the  negroes  were  brought  into 
slavery,  the  economic  factors  that  made  their  labor 
profitable  in  the  South  but  not  in  the  North,  different 
types  of  negroes  in  slavery,  negroes  as  skilled  workers, 
relations  of  masters  and  slaves,  education  permitted, 
means  of  gaining  freedom,  their  music,  religion,  etc. 
But  almost  any  one  of  these  divisions  would  make  a  topic 
for  a  speech;  and  on  study  and  analysis  we  should  find 
that  we  could  go  on  subdividing,  as  the  botanist  con- 
tinues to  make  more  and  more  classifications  as  his 
knowledge  grows  more  intensive.  Here,  of  course,  the 
study  of  the  topic  as  urged  in  Chapter  IV  comes  in  play. 

^Genimg,  Working  Principles  of  Rhetoric,  p.  464.  This  is  an  excellent 
reference  on  amplification.  See  also  Phillips's  Effective  Speaking  under 
the  headings,  Cumulation,  Restatement,  General  Illustration,  Specific 
Instance  and  Testimony. 


220  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Again,  we  may  consider  our  material  from  different 
angles,  as  it  will  be  viewed  by  different  classes  of  people. 
Lynching:  how  the  ignorant  negro  is  affected  by  it, 
how  the  intelligent  negro  views  it,  how  the  North  looks 
upon  it,  and  how  different  classes  of  Southern  people 
view  it.  Further,  we  may  very  profitably  consider  with 
how  many  existing  interests  of  our  hearers  we  can  link 
our  topic;  for  every  new  relationship  gives  it  a  new 
aspect.  We  may  put  our  ideas  now  into  abstract,  now 
into  concrete  terms;  now  into  general,  now  into  specific 
terms.  We  may  utihze  apt  quotations.  We  may  throw 
our  arguments  now  into  the  forms  of  hard  and  fast 
exposition  and  logic,  now  into  forms  which  will  touch 
the  imagination  and  the  dramatic  sense.  We  may  use 
examples,  illustrations  general  and  specific,  and  analogies 
and  figures. 

This  list  of  possibilities  is  suggestive  rather  than  com- 
plete. It  is  further  to  be  observed  that  how  much  varia- 
tion is  needed  depends  upon  the  length  of  the  speech, 
its  difficulty  and  the  ability  of  the  audience  to  attend 
and  their  eagerness  to  listen.  Experience  indicates  that 
all  this  is  not  too  obvious  to  mention,  but  should  prove 
useful  as  a  means  of  self-criticism.  Beginners  are  often 
weak  in  the  use  of  wise  amplification. 
I  Brevity.  Often  the  beginner  does  not  see  that  ampli- 
fication is  needed  for  clearness  and  impressiveness,  but 
thinks  it  means  simply  making  a  little  go  a  long  way, — 
dilution.  The  virtue  of  brevity  is  much  impressed  upon 
us.  We  are  told  that  "brevity  is  the  soul  of  wit,'j  that 
the  average  composition  could  be  improved  by  cutting 
out  half  its  words.  Adjectives  and  adverbs  in  excess 
are  particularly  warned  against.  When  Hamlet  says  of 
his  father,  "He  was  a  man,  take  him  for  all  in  all,"  he 
could  not  have  strengthened  his  praise  by  adding  any 
adjective  to  man.     Too  many  words  and  phrases,  cir- 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  221 

cumlocutions,  such  as  iron  utensil  frequently  employed 
for  excavation  instead  of  spade, — all  these  are  clumsy  and 
clog  movement.  Brevity  is  an  essential  ingredient  in 
many  a  forceful  saying,  though  surprise  is  quite  as  im- 
portant: "Verbosity  is  cured  by  a  wide  vocabulary"; 
"Language  is  the  art  of  concealing  thought";  "Do  not 
mistake  perspiration  for  inspiration";  "God  pays,  but 
he  dees  not  pay  every  Saturday."  And  finally,  we  know 
that  audiences  like  brevity;  that  is,  they  like  short 
speeches. 

Granting  all  this  and  more,  still  we  must  not  over- 
estimate the  value  of  mere  brevity.  There  is  a  necessity 
of  iteration,  of  staying  attention  upon  an  idea  until  it 
grows  clear  and  impressive.  Psychologists  tell  us  that 
frequency  as  well  as  intensity  is  important  in  fixing 
impressions.  ^lore  than  this,  amplification  is  not  mere 
repetition;  there  is  gain  in  information  and  understand- 
ing. Even  the  restatement  sheds  new  light  on  a  point. 
If  this  were  not  true,  many  of  the  greatest  essays,  poems, 
books,  even  the  life  work  of  some  great  men  might  as  well 
be  condensed  into  a  few  sententious  sayings.  Would  it 
have  been  better  if  Newman,  having  written  in  The  Idea 
of  a  University  that  a  gentleman  "is  one  who  never  in- 
flicts pain,"  had  not  gone  on  for  several  fine  paragraphs, 
explaining  and  impressing  his  meaning?  Yet  there  is 
the  whole  thought  "in  a  nutshell." 

Let  us  take  an  earnest  presentation  of  the  argument 
for  brevity  by  Dr.  Austin  Phelps:^ 

"Many  years  ago,  Kossuth  the  Hungarian  patriot, 
in  an  address  in  the  city  of  New  York,  expressed  the  idea 
that  the  time  had  gone  by  when  the  people  could  be 
depended  upon  for  their  own  enslavement  by  standing 
armies.  He  compressed  it  into  two  words.  Said  he, 
'Bayonets  think.'  The  words  caught  the  popular  taste 
like  w^ildfire.     They  took  rank  with  the  proverbs  of  the 

^Phelps  and  Frink,  Rhetoric,  p.  139. 


1 1 


222  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

language  immediately.  The  idea  was  not  new,  but  the 
style  of  it  was.  It  had  been  floating  in  the  dialect  of 
political  debate  ever  since  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill, 
but  never  before  had  it  been  condensed  into  a  lorace  of 
words.  The  effect  was  electric.  INlillions  then,  for  the 
first  time,  felt  it  as  a  fact  in  political  history.  AYithin 
a  month  the  newspapers  of  Oregon  had  told  their  readers 
that  bayonets  think.  Eveiybody  told  ever^^body  else 
that  bayonets  think.  In  style  it  was  a  minie-bullet : 
every^body  who  heard  it  was  struck  by  it.  Such  is  the 
force  of  laconic  dialect." 

Observe,  first,  that  this  expression,  "Bayonets  think," 
would  be  very  hard  to  interpret  if  it  stood  alone.  Dr. 
Phelps  tells  us  it  is  an  old  idea,  yet  he  feels  the  need  of 
giving  its  meaning  in  advance.  No  doubt  Kossuth 
had  presented  the  idea  fully  before  he  reached  this  expres- 
sion in  his  speech,  and  this  was  only  a  way  of  condensing 
his  thought  into  a  flashing  phrase  that  would  stick  in 
memory.  Usually  these  phrases,  wonderful  for  brevity 
and  force,  depend  upon  the  previous  understanding  of 
the  audience,  gained  either  beforehand  or  from  the  speech 
itself;  and  they  simply  crystalhze  this  understanding. 
This  is  true  of  the  epigrams  quoted  above.  How  much 
would  they  mean  to  one  who  could  not  translate  and 
ampUfy  them.^^  So  much  depends  upon  the  information 
and  belief  of  one's  hearers  that  we  cannot  safely  accept 
the  dogmatic  statement,  the  briefer  the  better. 

So  much  for  brevity  and  clearness.  We  cannot  doubt 
that  brief  statements  are  often  forceful.  I  should  like 
to  insist  on  this  truth,  were  there  need;  but  it  is  also  true 
that  brevity  is  not  necessarily  forceful.  Note  how  Dr. 
Phelps,  in  his  desire  to  impress  us  with  the  force  of  Kos- 
suth's phrase,  multiplies  words.  He  goes  into  details, 
he  reiterates,  and  he  employs  figures  of  speech.  Emphasis 
requires  time  as  well  as  sheer  force.  The  hearer  must 
have  time  to  think,  to  take  in  the  thought.  If  you  can 
keep  me  thinking  of  a  matter  for  an  hour,  you  have  made 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  223 

that  matter  important  in  my  eyes.  The  Gettysburg 
Address  is  pointed  to  as  a  marvel  of  brevity;  but  if  the 
utmost  brevity  is  good,  this  speech  is  verbose.  Short 
as  it  is,  it  contains  words  not  necessary,  and  even  repeti- 
tions, ^loreover,  the  times  prepared  the  audience  for 
the  speech  and  Edward  Everett,  who  spoke  before  the 
President,  had  in  a  long  discourse  reviewed  the  history 
which  formed  a  background  for  Lincoln's  address.  And 
after  all,  there  is  strong  evidence  that  the  audience  were 
not  so  much  impressed  ^\dth  the  speech  as  we  are.  It 
was  too  short  for  a  hearer,  who  lacks  the  reader's  oppor- 
tunity to  deliberate.  When  Lincoln  debated  with  Doug- 
las he  usually  took  his  full  two  hours. 

Short  sermons  are  especially  welcomed.  Is  it  not  because  we  go  to 
church  from  a  sense  of  duty,  and  because  hearers  and  preachers  alike 
often  fail  to  do  their  share  toward  making  sermons  intereisting?  We 
do  not  like  a  really  good  sermon  to  stop  in  fifteen  minutes.  Some  may 
find  interest  in  turning  to  The  Outlook  for  July  10,  1913,  and  examining 
the  sermon  at  p.  631,  selected  and  commended  for  its  brevity.  It  amuses, 
it  hits  its  point;  but  does  it  satisfy?  Is  the  application  clear?  Would  it 
be  equally  good  before  an  ordinary  congregation? 

A  good  thing  should  not  be  made  a  fetish.  Serious 
writers,  including  Dr.  Phelps,  recognize  the  limitations 
of  the  doctrine,  be  brief,  and  they  dwell  also  upon  the 
need  for  amplification.  What,  then  is  the  truth?  Am  I 
urging  you  to  be  as  long-winded  as  you  like?  Heaven 
forbid!  Short  speeches  are  usually  best.  First,  we  must 
take  the  familiar  suggestion :  Consider  the  circumstances 
and  the  needs  of  your  audience.  Is  the  brief  statement 
sufficiently  clear?  sufficiently  impressive?  If  so,  use 
no  more  words.  Secondly,  in  answering  the  first  question, 
consider  whether  you  are  amplifying  a  thought  that 
deserves  emphasis.  Thirdly,  waste  no  words.  Be  eco- 
nomical; but  that  does  not  mean  niggardly  with  words, 
as  Professor  Palmer  says^  Emerson  was.     An    old  lawyer 

^Self-Cultivation  in  English,  p.  12. 


224  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

has  said  that  *'the  number  of  a  man's  words  should  be 
like  the  length  of  a  blanket, — enough  to  cover  the  bed 
and  to  tuck  in  besides."  Do  not  cut  out  till  the  effect 
is  bareness.  Ask  yourself,  does  the  word  in  question 
serve  a  proper  purpose?  Would  one  serve  as  well  as 
two?  Fourthly,  in  order  to  secure  needed  amplification 
and  yet  keep  our  speeches  short,  we  should  narrow  our 
themes.  There  are  but  few  occasions  when  we  are 
required  to  cover  a  large  subject  in  a  few  minutes.  On 
the  occasion  of  Lincoln's  second  inaugural  there  were 
many  topics  crying  for  attention;  and  yet  his  address 
was  brief  because  he  limited  his  scope.  This  is  the  brev- 
ity audiences  like,  that  of  a  well  developed  but  limited 
idea,  not  that  of  a  bare,  hard-packed  address.  A  short 
dull  speech  may  seem  longer  than  a  long  interesting  one. 

There  is  no  mistake  more  common  with  our  college  debateris,  who  are 
compelled  to  be  brief,  than  that  of  endeavoring  to  pack  as  many  argu- 
ments as  possible  into  five  or  ten  minutes,  instead  of  trying  to  make  a 
few  essential  points  impress  and  cling  to  the  judges'  minds. 

Unity  in  Variety.  I  have  emphasized  the  need  for 
change  and  also  the  need  for  dwelling  up|on  important 
ideas ;  and  now  I  emphasize  the  need  for)  unity,  which 
demands  that  each  speech  should  "group  itself  about  one 
central  idea."  j  We  must  make  a  distinction  between 
merely  holding*  attention  through  a  given  period,  and 
holding  attention  to  those  ideas  which,  properly  impressed, 
will  accomplish  our  further  purposes.  It  may  be  possible 
to  hold  attention,  if  that  is  all  that  is  desired,  by  a  series 
of  disconnected  "hits,"  whether  these  be  jokes,  stories, 
"purple  patches,"  epigrams,  passages  of  sheer  beauty, 
or  any  other  resource  of  composition  and  delivery;  but 
all  this  is  a  waste  for  a  speaker  with  a  purpose,  unless  he 
has  used  all  to  produce  a  unified  impression.  The  im- 
portance of  unity  will  grow  upon  us  as  we  study  and  prac- 
tice public  speaking. 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  225 

A  writer  tells^  us  the  plays  of  to-d^y  "do  not  depend  for  their  effect 
upon  cumulative  interest,  but  upon  individual  'punch.'  .  .  .  Our 
latest  dramatic  form  combines  all  forms  in  a  swift  medley  of  effects 
that  I  can  describe  by  no  other  term  than  vaudeville."  He  adds  signi- 
ficantly that  when  the  curtain  falls,  turning  from  the  play  instantly, 
"we  lean  back  into  the  ordinary  world"  and  "resume  conversations 
interrupted  in  the  subway." 

I  have  in  mind  a  preacher  whose  sermons  might  also  be  described  as 
vaudeville.  There  is  the  call  to  laugh  and  the  call  to  weep,  occasional 
dashes  at  the  text,  anything  and  everything  that  will  make  a  hit,  with 
extremely  slight  regard  for  the  supposed  theme.  When  he  comes  to  the 
final  appeal  you  feel  it  is  simply  tacked  on  to  satisfy  custom;  indeed,  you 
have  a  sense  of  surprise  that  a  show  should  end  that  way. 

/Three  Unitiesi  There  is  need  for  kinity  of  thoughtl 
and  this  is  the  unity  usually  emphasized  in  the  texts.' 
Whatever  is  said,  however  many  ideas  are  advanced,  all 
should  be  subordinated  to  one  central  thought  which 
all  serve  to  develop.  There  is  also  a  \unity  of  feeling} 
However  many  emotions  are  touched,  all  should  blend 
to  produce  the  desired  mood.  jBoth  these  unities  enter 
into  and  are  subordinate  to  unity  of  purpose;  that  is,  all 
that  goes  into  a  speech  should  bear  the  test  of  promoting 
understanding,  inducing  belief,  or  influencing  conduct, 
according  to  the  speaker's  aim  in  a  given  speech. 

Due  attention  to  unity  does  not  preclude  variety. 
Variety  in  unity  James  declares  "the  secret  of  all  interest- 
ing talk  and  thought. 'i  Other  writers  say,  "Variety  in 
unity  is  the  secret  of  sustained  attention. "^  Unity  you 
need;  variety  you  need;  there  is  no  conflict.  While  you 
must  turn  attention  from  one  aspect  of  your  theme  to 
another,  you  should  turn  to  aspects  of  that  part  which  is 
under  consideration.  And  also,  as  indicated  above,  you 
gain  variety  by  stating  the  same  idea  in  different  ways. 
Fix  this  in  mind :  Change  does  not  require  jumping  from 
one  topic  to  another;  or  even  to  another  part  of  the  same 

^Simeon  Strunsky,  in  The  Atlantic  Monthly  for  May,  1914,  p.  627. 
^Colvin  and  Bagley,  Human  Behavior. 


226  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

subject  than  that  under  consideration.  Nor  is  a  higgledy- 
piggledy  turning  from  point  to  point  within  3'our  proper 
scope  suggested;  rather  an  orderly,  coherent  procedure, 
such  as  will  encourage  the  efforts  of  your  audience  to  see 
the  relations  of  part  to  part. 

To  illustrate  the  foregoing  we  may  turn  to  the  selections,  WTio  is  to 
Blame?  and  Await  the  Issue,  in  Chapter  IX.  Certainly  these  have 
variety,  and  their  unity  is  admirable.  There  is  progress;  each  para- 
graph serves  to  give  a  new  view-point;  yet  each  serves  the  central 
thought  and  turns  attention  to  it  again  and  again.  So  evident  is  the 
central  thought  in  each  paragraph  that  careless  summaries  of  the  para- 
graphs will  be  much  alike  and  will  really  be  summaries  of  the  whole. 
Lincoln's  Gettysburg  Address  is  a  remarkable  example  of  unity  with 
progress  and  variety. 

"Fom-score  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth  on  this 
continent,  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and  dedicated  to  the  prop- 
osition that  all  men  are  created  equal. 

"Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether  that  nation, 
or  any  nation,  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long  endure.  "We  are 
met  on  a  great  battle-field  of  that  war.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  a 
portion  of  that  field  as  a  final  resting-place  for  those  who  gave  their 
lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper 
that  we  should  do  this. 

"But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we  cannot  dedicate — we  cannot  consecrate — 
we  cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living  and  dead,  who 
struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it,  far  above  our  poor  power  to  add 
or  detract.  The  world  will  little  note,  nor  long  remember  what  we  say 
here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is  for  us  the  living, 
rather,  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished  work  which  they  who 
fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to 
be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining  before  us — that  from  these 
honored  dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for  which  they 
gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion — that  we  here  highly  resolve  that 
these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain — that  this  nation  under  God, 
shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom — and  that  government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." 

(Delivered  at  Gettysburg,  November,  1863.) 

Here  is  unity  of  thought:  all  serves  to  develop  the  proposition, 
popular  government  must  be  preserved  in  the  world.  Our  fathers 
established  a  free  government;  this  war  is  testing  the  durability  of  such 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  227 

government;  we  have  met  to  honor  those  who  have  died  that  it  may- 
endure;  we  cannot  honor  them,  but  we  can  catch  inspiration  from  them 
and  solemnly  resolve  that  free  government  shall  endure.  Almost  every 
sentence  directly  echoes  or  amplifies  the  central  thought.  There  is 
unity  of  feeling:  veneration  for  the  fathers  because  of  the  work  they 
wrought  for  free  government;  sorrow  for  the  dead,  pride  in  their  courage 
and  gratitude  for  their  sacrifices,  and  with  all  a  glorying  in  the  convic- 
tion that  this  is  a  struggle  for  human  liberty; — all  these  blend  into  high 
resolve  to  continue  the  struggle.  That  is  to  say,  there  is  also  unity  of 
purpose :  Lincoln  wishes  to  honor  the  occasion  and  more  to  honor  the  dead; 
but  these  purposes  accomplished  serve  the  grand  purpose  of  inspiring 
his  hearers  and  the  country  to  greater  sacrifices. 

There  is  a  very  real  temptation  to  attempt  too  much  in 
a  single  speech,  and  the  speaker  often  feels  that  his  hearers 
ought  to  be  capable  of  understanding  several  major 
thoughts  in  one  period,  and  so  they  are;  but  still  experi- 
ence proves  that  no  audience  is  likely  to  carry  away  from 
a  discourse  more  than  one  important  thought;  that 
where  there  is  not  proper  limitation,  elimination  and 
subordination,  of  all  to  one  central  thought,  the  audience 
carries  away  little  that  is  clear  and  well  impressed,  and 
that  little  as  often  the  least  important  as  the  most  im- 
portant. In  exposition,  in  argument,  and  particularly 
in  persuasion,  there  is  need  of  "pounding  in"  a  single  idea. 
The  hearer,  we  must  always  remember,  cannot,  like  the 
reader,  review  and  ponder  and  so  impress  many  thoughts 
on  his  mind.  The  speaker  must  resist  the  temptation 
to  attempt  too  much,  and  consider  that  he  has  done  well 
if  he  has  clearly  and  forcefully  expressed  one  thought; 
very  well  indeed,  if  next  day  his  hearers  are  able  to  state 
justly  his  main  idea. 

Some  analogies  may  help  us  to  grasp  the  idea  of  unity.  Although  the 
painter  may  give  his  picture  a  wealth  of  detail,  yet  he  will  strive  to  make 
each  detail  accentuate  the  central  figure.  The  statue  of  Lincoln  which 
stands  in  the  park  which  bears  his  name  in  Chicago,  has  been  said  by  a 
competent  authority  to  owe  much  of  its  greatness  to  the  fact  that  every 
line  of  the  figure  leads  the  observer's  eye  back  to  Lincoln's  face.  If 
Ha'is  analogy  seems  to  suggest  that  one  should  be  forever  circling  about 


228  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

his  theme  and  never  going  forward,  let  us  compare  a  speech  to  a  river 
which  grows  broader  and  deeper  as  it  receives  its  tributaries,  some  of 
which  have  their  sources  far  away,  and  bears  all  forward  in  unity.  Too 
many  speeches  are  like  a  stream  flowing  into  a  desert,  throwing  off  one 
branch  here  and  another  there,  until  all  is  lost  in  the  sand. 

A  few  specific  warnings  may  assist  in  securing  unity. 
Do  not  let  yourself  be  led  astray  by  mere  association  of 
ideas,  such  as  guides  most  conversations.  Each  sentence 
may  be  related  to  its  neighbors,  and  yet  unity  of  the  whole 
be  absent.     To  give  an  exaggerated  example: 

Speaking  of  California,  I  am  reminded  of  her  great  prune  orchards. 
Now  prunes  properly  prepared  are  an  excellent  food.  I  do  not  mean  as 
boarding  house  keepers  prepare  them.  Boarding  house  keepers  are  try- 
ing to  give  you  as  little  as  possible  for  your  money.  One  can  hardly 
blame  them  either,  with  the  high  cost  of  living,  which  does  not  seem  after 
all  to  be  lowered  by  the  new  tariff  law.  We  had  great  hopes  of  better 
times  when  Wilson  put  his  measures  through;  but  now  it  looks  as  if 
the  House  would  go  Republican  this  fall.  But  speaking  of  California, 
the  Pi:ogressives  and  the  women  make  that  state  doubtful.  I  don't 
know  about  women's  suffrage,  etc.,  etc. 

Absurd,  do  you  say.^^  Of  course,  but  very  easy  to  fall 
into,  and  not  much  worse  than  the  production  of  a  dis- 
tinguished preacher  who,  declaring  that  Christianity 
must  be  militant,  turned  to  the  militant  suffragettes 
for  illustration  and  proceeded  for  several  minutes  to  defend 
them,  till  the  point  supposedly  being  illustrated  was 
quite  swamped. 

Again,  do  not  think  you  have  unity  because  all  you  say 
is  or  can  be  related  to  one  subject.  You  might  say  a 
thousand  things  about  Lincoln  that  are  not  clearly  re- 
lated to  the  particular  theme,  Lincoln's  education.  Per- 
liaps  many  of  those  things  could  be  twisted  into  some 
semblance  of  a  relation  to  his  education;  yet  upon  the 
whole  they  vrould  not  ser^-e  to  develop  your  main  thought, 
or  the  right  mood,  or  make  for  the  end  in  view.  And 
many  of  the  ideas  that  might  be  forced  into  support  of 
the  central  thought,  are  not  worth  while  for  the  purpose 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  229 

in  hand.  Unity  requires  elimination  as  well  as  subordina- 
tion, and  many  an  interesting  fact,  or  seemingly  brilliant 
thought  or  expression,  must  be  ruthlessly  sacrificed. 
Unfortunately  few  of  us  have  the  courage  of  our  judg- 
ment in  this  sort  of  self-sacrifice;  but  the  practical  ques- 
tion is.  Does  this  detail  serve  the  purpose?  When  in 
doubt,  omit. 

Some  preachers  make  the  mistake  of  assuming  that  any  thought 
which  can  be  drawn  from  their  text  has  proper  place  in  their  sermon. 
I  heard  a  preacher  and  lecturer  of  some  note  preaching  on  the  story 
of  Caleb  and  the  other  spies  who  were  sent  by  Moses  to  investigate  the 
land  of  Canaan.^  After  a  discourse  which  touched  on  everything 
which  chanced  to  be  in  the  Doctor's  mind  that  morning,  he  drew  these 
three  lessons:  1.  It  is  sometimes  a  duty  to  be  a  spy.  Spying  is  not 
muckraking.  2.  Those  who  make  ventures  of  faith  are  rewarded 
3.  The  best  years  of  life  come  after  fifty. 

[The  speaker,  then,  should  ordinarily  narrow  his  theme 
and  strive  to  hold  attention  to  a  single  idea./  If  this 
results  in  monotony  or  tiresome  repetition,  it  is  because 
the  speaker  is  not  skillful;  he  is  not  profiting  by  the  lesson 
of  variety  in  unity.  It  is  also  probable  that  his  mind 
is  not  "richly  furnished  with  materials,"  and  that  for 
lack  of  sufficient  analysis  he  has  not  viewed  his  subject 
in  its  various  aspects  and  relations. 

;pimplicityJ  Both  Genung  and  Hart,  authorities  on 
rhetoric,  say  thatj'unity  and  simplicity  are  the  most 
essential  elements  m  oratorical  style./  These  are  closely 
related;  yet  a  speech  or  a  sentence  may  be  both  perfectly 
unified  and  very  complex.  We  recall  the  need  for  econo- 
mizing the  hearer's  interpreting  power.  We  may  bor- 
row from  Genung  :^ 

"Words  from  the  every-day  vocabulary,  simplicity 
and  directness  of  phrase,  a  strong  and  pointed  sentence 
structure,  an  ordering  of  parts  made  lucid  by  marked 
indications  of  plan  and  consecutiveness,  reasoning  where 

^Numbers,  13. 

^Working  Principles,  p.  653. 


230  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

there  is  only  one  step  from  premise  to  conclusion  and  no 
solution  is  left  obscure  or  in  long  suspense, — these  are 
the  economizing  agencies  which  adapt  oratorical  style  to 
popular  apprehension . ' ' 

The  plan  of  a  speech  should  be  simple  and  easily  com- 
prehended. The  sentences  should  not  be  involved  or 
made  heavy  with  many  modifiers;  but  there  is  little  use 
in  making  dogmatic  statements  in  regard  to  the  respec- 
tive merits  of  long  and  short  sentences,  or  loose  and 
periodic.  The  question  in  regard  -to  any  sentence  is, 
Will  it  be  readily  grasped?  A  sentence  may  be  very 
long  and  have  many  clauses,  and  yet  be  easy  for  the 
hearer.  The  last  sentence  of  Who  is  to  Blame?  is  an 
example;  but  the  second  sentence  in  the  same  paragraph 
has  made  much  trouble.  We  may  say  that  sentences 
which  require  the  hearer  to  carry  forward  much  matter 
of  which  the  bearing  is  not  evident  immediately,  will 
weary  an  audience,  if  much  employed.  (See  examples 
at  p.  56). 

Coherence.  [Closely  related  to  unity  and  simplicity 
is  coherence.  To  cohere  is  to  stick  together.  \  In  co- 
herent composition  the  relation  of  each  part  to  its  neigh- 
bors and  to  the  central  thought  is  unmistakable.  This 
would  seem  to  be  the  requirement  of  unity,  but  the  em- 
phasis is  upon  unmistakable.  Not  only  should  every 
sentence  and  paragraph  have  a  proper  relation,  but  this 
should  be  made  plain,  in  order  that  attention  shall  not  be 
wasted. 

\  In  securing  coherence,  much  is  gained  by  making  a 
clear  plan,  with  main-heads  showing  clearly  their  relation 
to  each  other  and  to  the  theme,  and  with  each  subhead 
clear  in  its  relation  to  its  main-head.  '  Most  stress  is 
laid  by  the  authorities,  perhaps,  upon  clear  sequence  of 
ideas,  as  shown  by  clear  transitions  from  sentence  to 
sentence  and  from  paragraph  to  paragraph.     A  review  of 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  231 

"college  orations"  shows  that  a  too  common  method  of 
seeking  force,  a  sort  of  snapping,  crackling  force,  is  by 
trimming  out  connective  words  and  phrases,  which  have 
been  called  the  "hooks  and  eyes  of  style."  In  listening 
to  such  speeches  one  has  difficulty  in  seeing  the  relation 
of  sentences  while  keeping  up  with  the  speaker;  and  often 
one  finds  on  examination,  that  this  disconnected  method 
of  composing  has  encouraged  the  speaker  in  stringing 
together  "snappy"  sentences  which  are  not  well  related. 
For  example : 

"On  Virginia's  historic  soil  has  been  proved  the  fact  that  Revolu- 
tion may  be  but  a  stepping  stone  for  Evolution.  Man  is  the  center  of 
all  evolution.  His  moral  growth  or  decay  is  irresistible.  Innumerable 
problems  of  human  progress  are  the  unwelcome  inheritance  of  every 
generation.  To  ignore  these  problems  is  fatal.  America  is  rousing  from 
a  moral  lethargy;  a  thrilling  spirit  of  reform  typifies  the  present  age. 
The  fundamental  evil  of  American  society  is  the  industrial  basis  upon 
which  it  stands.  The  State,  institutions  and  men  are  judged  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  almighty  dollar.  What  are  the  results  of  this  standard, 
what  does  it  involve,  and  what  is  the  remedy?" 

We  noted  in  the  second  chapter  the  effect  of  echoes, 
"the  connective  tissue  of  language,"  in  binding  together 
a  speech.  This  was  illustrated  with  the  Gettysburg 
Address.  Another  means  is  the  use  of  parallel  construc- 
tions; that  is,  giving  similar  form  to  phrases  of  similar 
significance.^  Wendell  speaks  of  "the  amazing  value 
of  parallel  construction,"  and  he  illustrates  with  the 
Lord's  Prayer.  A  study  of  a  master  of  speech  composi- 
tion, like  Wendell  Phillips,  will  reveal  much  use  of  con- 
nective words,  echoes  and  parallel  constructions.  I  have 
chosen  the  following  passage,^  not  because  it  is  the  most 
remarkable  for  coherence  that  could  be  found,  but  because 
it  combines  coherence  with  the  abrupt  force  sought  in 
the  excerpt  above. 

^Wendell,  English  Composition,  p.  137. 
^From  Phillips's  oration  on  Daniel  O' Conn  ell. 


232  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

"In  this  mass  of  ignorance,  weakness,  and  quarrel,  one  keen  eye  saw 
hidden  the  elements  of  union  and  strength.  With  rarest  skill  he  called 
them  forth  and  marshalled  them  into  rank.  Then  this  one  man,  with- 
out birth,  wealth,  or  office,  in  a  land  ruled  by  birth,  wealth,  and  office, 
molded  from  these  unsuspected  elements  a  power  which,  overawing 
king,  senate,  and  people,  wrote  his  single  will  on  the  statute-book  of 
the  most  obstinate  nation  in  Europe.  Safely  to  emancipate  the  Irish 
Catholics,  and  in  spite  of  Saxon-Protestant  hate,  to  lift  all  Ireland 
to  the  level  of  British  citizenship — this  was  the  problem  which  states- 
manship and  patriotism  had  been  seeking  for  two  centuries  to  solve. 
For  this  blood  had  been  poured  out  like  water.  On  this  the  genius  of 
Swift,  the  learning  of  Molyneux,  and  the  eloquence  of  Bushe,  Grattan, 
and  Burke  had  been  wasted.  English  leaders  ever  since  Fox  had  studied 
this  problem  anxiously.  They  saw  that  the  safety  of  the  empire  was 
compromised.  At  one  or  two  critical  moments  in  the  reign  of  George  III, 
one  signal  from  an  Irish  leader  would  have  snapped  the  chain  that  bound 
Ireland  to  his  throne.  His  ministers  recognized  it;  and  they  tried  every 
expedient,  exhausted  every  resource,  dared  every  peril,  kept  oaths  or 
broke  them  in  order  to  succeed.  All  failed;  and  not  only  failed,  but 
acknowledged  they  could  see  no  way  in  which  success  could  ever  be 
achieved. 

"O'Connell  achieved  it.  Out  of  the  darkness,  he  called  forth  light. 
Out  of  this  most  abject,  weak,  and  pitiable  of  kingdoms,  he  made  a 
power,  and  dying,  he  left  in  Parliament  a  specter  which,  unless 
appeased,  pushes  Whig  and  Tory  ministers  alike  from  their  stools." 

\  Another  important  consideration  in  securing  coherence 
is  point  of  view.  \  Rhetoricans^  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  in  describing  a  scene  one  must  view  all  from  one 
spot;  or,  if  one  changes  view-point,  one  should  give  due 
warning.  If  you  were  describing  the  campus  as  seen  from 
the  south  end,  and  without  warning  began  to  describe 
things  as  seen  from  the  east,  your  hearers  would  be  in 
a  fine  state  of  confusion.  You  will  see,  too,  that  many 
and  rapid  changes,  even  with  warning,  will  be  trouble- 
some. Now,  the  same  confusion  will  arise  if  you  try  to 
speak  of  arbitration  as  seen  by  a  soldier,  a  business  man, 
a  humanitarian,  all  at  once;    or  if  you  too  rapidly  shift 

^Cf .  Baldwin,  Composition,  Oral  and  Written,  p  .  60 . 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  233 

from  one  to  the  other.  Unnoted  shift  from  past  to  present 
or  to  future  is  also  troublesome. 

Emphasis.  A  large  element  in  speech-making,  as 
regards  both  composition  and  delivery,  is  emphasis. 
Emphasis  attracts  attention,  and  right  emphasis  attracts 
it  to  what  should  especially  be  noticed.  The  term  might 
be  extended  to  cover  this  entire  chapter.  In  its  narrower 
sense,  emphasis  is  largely  a  matter  of  proportion,  giving 
due  space  to  the  different  ideas  of  a  speech,  holding  atten- 
tion longest  upon  what  is  chiefly  to  be  impressed.  For 
this  purpose  we  use  reiteration  and  amplification,  as  has 
been  explained.  The  longer  a  topic  is  held  before  atten- 
tion,— genuine  attention, — the  more  importance  it  gains 
in  the  hearer's  mind,  assuming  that  attention  does  not 
reveal  its  inherent  unimportance.  Sufiicient  warnings 
have  been  given  against  the  overuse  of  any  of  the  means 
of  attracting  and  sustaining  attention,  such  as  specific 
enumeration  and  illustration,  at  points  where  emphasis 
is   not   desired. 

Delivery.  The  resources  of  delivery  are,  of  course, 
available  for  making  a  speech  coherent  and  giving  due 
emphasis  to  its  parts;  but  the  speaker  should  not  compose 
sentences  and  paragraphs  which  throw  the  burden  of 
labored  stress,  inflection,  etc.,  upon  delivery.  New- 
comer says,^  "One  of  the  tests  of  good  style  is  the  ease 
with  which  a  reader,  reading  the  work  aloud  without 
previous  acquaintance,  will  properly  stress  ....  the 
different  sentence  elements."  It  is  very  commonly  true 
that  beginners  will  write  their  opening  sentences  so  that 
their  speech  subject  is  swamped  in  the  midst  of  numerous 
clauses.  "Seek  so  to  place  words,"  says  Genung,^  "that 
they  shall  emphasize  themselves."  It  may  be  added  that 
the  practice  of  delivery,  and  especially  the  interpretation 

^Elements  of  Rhetoric,  p.  192. 
"^Practical  Rhetoric,  p.  179. 


^34  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

and  delivery  of  selections,  tends  to  develop  a  sense  of 
sound   emphasis   in   composition. 

An  admirable  treatment  of  emphasis  in  composition  will  be  found  in 
Baldwin's  Composition  Oral  and  Written,  p.  19.  Especially  good  is  his 
illustration  of  bad  emphasis  by  developing  in  the  Gettysburg  Address 
the  less  essential  part  devoted  to  the  battle  and  shortening  the  appeal  to 
the  audience. 

Use  of  Texts  on  Composition.  I  have  no  intention  of 
giving  in  this  text  a  systematic  treatment  of  composi- 
tion. I  only  wish  to  emphasize  those  elements  which 
class-room  experience  indicates  as  needing  special  atten- 
tion. A  fair  degree  of  knowledge  of  composition  on  the 
part  of  my  readers  must  be  assumed.  For  those  lacking 
due  preparation,  and  for  all  with  regard  to  certain  ques- 
tions, the  references  to  other  texts  are  given.  We  should 
note  that  all  that  writers  on  composition  have  to  offer 
on  force,  strength,  energy  or  vigor  of  style,  however 
named,  is  germane  to  the  subject  of  attention;  for  as  wc 
recall  from  Wendell's  definition,^  "force,  the  emotional 
quality  of  style,"  is  *'the  distinguishing  quality  of  a  style 
that  holds  attention." 

Much  that  comes  under  this  head  has  already  been  presented.  I 
advise  you  to  look  up  the  references  given,  and  in  particular  to  read  the 
chapter  on  Force  in  Wendell's  English  Composition,  and  the  chapters 
on  Energy  in  Phelps  and  Frink's  Rhetoric.  The  latter  work  has  the 
advantage  of  being  written  from  the  speaker's  view-point.  It  will  be 
worth  while  to  run  over  some  of  its  headings  here: 

First,  the  speaker  must  have  forcible  thought,  thought  to  which 
forcible  expression  is  appropriate.  "Do  not  take  a  sledge  hammer  to 
kill  a  fly."  Then  one  should  write  or  speak  with  enthusiasm.  "Logic 
set  on  fire,"  is  one  of  the  definitions  of  eloquence.  It  is  important, 
further  that  one  prepare  wdth  audience  in  mind,  and  also  have  some 
immediate  object  in  view.  But  enthusiasm  must  be  accompanied  by 
self-possession.  Delirium  and  convulsions  are  not  strength.  Dr. 
Phelps  proceeds  to  discuss  energy  as  affected  by  words,  taking  up  pure 
words,  Saxon  words,  specific  words,  short  words,  onomatopoetic  words. 

^English  Composition,  p.  236, 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  ^35 

He  next  considers  the  force  of  conciseness,  and  the  weakness  of  verbose- 
ness.  The  arrangement  of  a  sentence  for  emphasis,  and  the  advantages 
and  disadvantages  of  loose  an»d  periodic  sentences  are  treated.  A  chapter 
is  given  to  figurative  language  as  an  element  in  energy;  but  by  figures 
Dr.  Phelps  refers  to  certain  methods  of  expression  which  later  writers 
do  not  class  as  figures, — climax,  antithesis,  interrogation,  colloquy, 
hyperbole,  irony,  exclamation,  vision  and  apostrophe.  Plainly  enough 
all  these  are  means  of  winning  special  attention.  We  need  note  only 
the  first  three  of  these  so-called  figures  of  speech. 

I  Climax  is  more  important  in  speaking  than  in  writing. 
It  seems  to  answer  an  instinctive  demand  of  the  hearer,  and 
is  the  natural  expression  of  one  who  warms  to  his  work. 
Anti-climax,  when  it  is  not  burlesque,  as  in  "he  had  a  good 
conscience  and  a  Roman  nose,"  is  always  weak.  To  pro- 
ceed without  increase  of  force  gives  much  the  same  effect 
as  anti-climax.  As  a  rule,  the  order  of  climax  should  be 
followed  within  the  sentence,  in  the  arrangement  of 
sentences  and  in  the  plan  of  a  speech,  though  there  may 
often  be  good  reason  for  departing  from  the  rule.  Wen- 
dell says^  that  anti-climax  is  essentially  false  emphasis; 
and  a  speaker  realizes  this  in  delivery,  when  his  instinct 
prompts  him  to  stress  the  ends  of  sentences,  paragraphs 
and  speeches. 

\  Antithesis  is  based  on  contrast^  with  the  force  of  which 
w^  are  already  familiar.  \The  antithetic  structure  makes 
a  contrast  sharper. 


"A  soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath;  but  a  grievous  word  stirreth 
up  anger." — Proverbs. 

"The  Puritans  hated  bear-baiting,  not  because  it  gave  pain  to  the  bear, 
but  because  it  gave  pleasure  to  the  spectators." — Macaulay. 

"It  is  because  Shakespeare  dares,  and  dares  very  frequently,  .  .  . 
simply  to  be  foolish,  that  he  is  so  pre-eminently  wise;  the  others  try  to 
be  always  wise,  and,  alas!  it  is  not  necessary  to  complete  the  antithesis." 
— Saintshury. 

interrogation.     Says    Phelps:      "Few    expadients     of 
speech  so  simple  as  this  are  so  effective  in  giving  vigor  to 
^English  Composition,  p.  133. 


286  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

style.  Composition  comparatively  dull  may  be  made 
comparatively  vivacious,  and  so  far  forcible,  by  a  liberal 
use  of  interrogatives.  .  .  .  Put  it  to  the  hearer  as  if 
he  must  sharpen  it  by  a  response."  Plainly  enough, 
questions  tend  to  bring  the  conversational  quality  into 
delivery,  to  bring  speaker  and  hearer  into  contact.  The 
virtue  of  interrogation  is  in  its  prompting  the  hearer  to 
think  for  himself.     Mr.  Bryan  says  of  it:^ 

"The  interrogatory  is  frequently  employed  by  the 
orator,  and  when  wisely  used  is  irresistible.  What 
dynamic  power,  for  instance,  there  is  in  that  question 
propounded  by  Christ,  'What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he 
gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul?'  Volumes 
could  not  have  presented  so  effectively  the  truth  that  he 
sought  to  impress  upon  his  hearers." 

The  Effective  Phrase.  There  are  college  students 
who  are  far  too  fond  of  striking  phrases,  and  who  carry 
their  labors  to  the  point  of  affectation.  They  frequently 
try  to  make  expression  take  the  place  of  thought.  It  has 
been  my  fortune  to  meet,  in  large  universities  with  many 
technical  courses,  more  of  those  who  despise  any  careful 
attention  to  phraseology.  "What's  the  odds  if  people 
only  get  it?"  they  demand;  and  do  not  see  that  they  beg 
the  question.  If  one's  words  are  not  precise,  or  are 
offensive  to  the  taste  of  one's  hearers,  if  one's  construc- 
tions are  cloudy  and  weak,  then  one's  hearers  do  not 
"get  it,"  or  not  wath  full  force.  The  idea  of  efficiency 
which  has  taken  strong  hold  upon  present  day  technical 
students,  can  be  applied  to  language.  The  way  we  do 
things  counts.  Those  who  can  appreciate  good  form  in 
pulling  an  oar  or  in  driving  a  golf  ball,  ought  not  to  be  at  a 
loss  to  realize  the  importance  of  how  ideas  are  expressed. 

There  is  a  false  notion  of  sincerity  which  lies  back  of 
the  notion  that  it  is  unworthy  of  a  man  to  try  to  say  things 

^World's  Famous  Orations,  Introduction. 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  237 

well.  "If  a  man  has  a  worthy  thing  to  say,"  exclaimed 
Henry  Van  Dyke,^  "shall  he  not  think  it  worth  while  to  find 
a  worthy  way  to  say  it  ? "  What  is  it  we  instinctively  object 
to?  I  do  not  believe  the  man  lives  who  does  not  respond 
to  really  good  expression.  Is  not  our  objection  to  the 
effort  to  make  a  commonplace  idea  sound  profound,  the 
use  of  the  "feeble  forcible"  in  an  effort  to  make  a  puny 
thought  startling.'^  The  refusal  to  say  a  simple  thing 
simply  produces  bombast,  against  which  we  properly 
react.  There  are  those,  also,  who  carefully  avoiding  the 
"highfalutin,"  and  even  honest  eloquence,  yet  indulge  in 
so  much  cleverness  that  one  feels  they  are  trying  to  be 
"smart."  They  attract  attention  less  to  their  ideas  than 
to  their  way  of  expressing  them.  And  this,  like  a  showy 
gesture,  is  both  ineffective  and  in  bad  taste.  It  is  not 
at  all  the  "big  bow-wow%"  once  so  common  in  American 
oratory,  or  affectedly  clever  expression,  that  is  urged 
upon  you;  but  just  an  honest  effort  to  give  effective, 
fitting  expression  to  your  thoughts  and  feelings,  so  that 
without  waste  they  shall  hold  and  impress  the  attention 
of  your  audience. 

Some  stand  by  the  great  half  truth:  If  you  think 
clearly  and  vigorously,  you  will  express  yourself  clearly 
and  vigorously.  It  is  true  you  cannot  speak  clearly 
and  vigorously  until  you  so  think,  and  that  clear,  vigorous 
thought  will  tend  to  secure  fitting  expression;  but  there 
is  also  need  for  study  and  strenuous  endeavor.  And  we 
must  remember  that  the  very  effort  for  clear,  vigorous 
expression  reacts  to  clarify  and  strengthen  our  thought. 
We  should  remember,  too,  that  we  are  students,  not 
masters;  and  that  if  we  are  to  be  ready  in  the  crises  we 
look  forward  to,  when  with  smoothly  working  minds 
and  ready  command  of  ample  vocabularies,  we  shall  meet 

^Caught  from  a  sermon  and  perhaps  not  exactly  Dr.  Van  Dyke's 
words. 


238  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

unexpected  emergencies,  we  shall  have  to  train  ourselves 
well.  Those  who  would  say,  Just  be  natural,  were  well 
answered  by  Professor  George  L.  Burr  in  his  address 
upon  Robert  Collier,  the  famous  preacher  who  in  his 
eighties  could  still  hold  the  delighted  attention  of  his 
congregations : 

"I  know  thoughtless  folk  who  found  the  secret  of  his 
power  in  what  they  called  his  'naturalness.'  'Why,  to 
him  it  was  all  natural;  he  only  needed  to  be  himself.' 
My  friends,  I  knew  him  well.  .  .  .  Do  you  think 
that  to  be  natural  costs  nothing?  Why,  just  to  tell 
the  truth  is  consummate  art.  Bluntness  is  not  truth- 
telling.      Bluntness   is   for  those    too   lazy   to   tell    the 

precise  truth Read  those  letters  of  his  early 

manhood  .  .  .  .  and  compare  them  wdtli  the  ripened 
magic  of  his  later  speech." 

Those  who  confuse  muddled  thinking  and  muddy  expression  with 
sincerity  may  learn  again  from  that  book  of  wisdom,  Alice  in  Wonder- 
land: 

"Then  you  should  say  what  you  mean,"  the  March  Hare  went  on. 

"I  do,"  Alice  hastily  replied;  "at  least- — at  least  I  mean  what  I  say — 
that's  the  same  thing,  you  know." 

"Not  the  same  thing  a  bit!"  said  the  Hatter.  "Why,  you  might  just 
as  well  say  that  'I  see  what  I  eat'  is  the  same  as  'I  eat  what  I  see'!" 

Slang.  There  are  some  who  seem  to  ha^e  no  forceful 
way  of  expressing  themselves  save  in  slang.  Slang  is  a 
matter  to  be  treated  with  common  sense.  We  must 
admit  that  its  use  is  not  a  crime  and  that  it  is  sometimxcs 
effective.  Nevertheless,  I  advise  the  young  speaker 
strongly  against  any  considerable  indulgence  in  slang. 
First,  he  must  recognize  that  there  are  going  to  be  many 
times  when  slang  will  be  unwise  and  inappropriate. 
Yet  we  are  such  creatures  of  habit  that,  if  we  use  it  habitu- 
ally, we  shall  with  diiSiculty  avoid  slang,  when  we  stand  up 
to  speak  extemporaneously.  And  the  effort  to  do  so  will 
greatly  restrain  our  freedom.  We  shall  be  at  a  loss  for 
words.  Our  sentences  will  frame  themselves  for  our  cus- 
tomary slang,  which  will  either  pop  out  in  spite  of  us,  or 


ATTENTION  OF  THE  AUDIENCE  239 

we  shall  have  to  hem  and  haw  and  start  anew.  If  we 
cannot  leave  off  our  slang  altogether,  let  us  at  least  make 
a  practice  of  leavmg  it  out  of  our  speech  upon  the  platform; 
let  slang  have  no  part  in  our  platform  consciousness. 
At  m.ost,  let  us  use  slang  only  when  we  are  sure  that  no 
good  English  expression  will  do  as  well. 

In  the  second  place,  we  must  recognize  that  the  con- 
stant use  of  slang  limits  our  vocabulary.  The  English 
language  has  resources  never  dreamed  of  by  the  slangy 
person.  He  would  need  several  good  English  expressions 
to  convey  all  the  meanings  and  shades  of  meaning  which 
he  covers  with  "a  peach,"  or  "going  some."  And  mind 
you,  this  use  of  a  single  term  for  many  shades  of  meaning 
indicates  and  encourages  lack  of  discrimination  in  thinking. 
In  the  third  place,  we  must  recognize  that  what  seems 
very  effective  to  some  may  be  very  ineffective  and  even 
repulsive  to  those  of  better  taste  and  judgment.  That 
one  may  get  a  laugh  by  an  atrocious  bit  of  slang  does  not 
mean  that  it  has  served  his  real  purpose.  There  are  many 
atrocious  ways  of  drawing  a  laugh  from  an  audience,^ — 
sometimes  a  laugh  from  the  more  vulgar  portion  while 
the  rest  shiver.  We  should  notice,  of  course,  that  there 
is  slang  and  slang;  that  some  is  almost  necessary  in  dis- 
cussing certain  themes  in  certain  places,  and  that  in  any 
case  there  is  a  wide  difference  between  such  mild  slang 
as  "something  doing"  and  such  a  senseless  vulgarity  as 
"feed  your  face."  But  one  who  indulges  greatly  in  slang 
is  not  likely  to  have  a  fine  taste  in  the  matter. 

Conclusion.  To  lay  down  a  few  simple,  arbitrary  rules 
for  securing  attention  would  seem  very  helpful,  and  would 
better  satisfy  a  certain  type  of  mind  than  a  discussion  of 
principles;  yet  is  it  not  manifestly  a  mistake  to  be  dog- 
matic about  matters  so  dependent  upon  conditions? 
"It  is  better  not  to  know  so  much  than  to  know  so  much 
that  isn't  so."     My  only  hope  is  that  the  student  of  this 


240  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

chapter  will  become  intelligent  in  regard  to  its  problems. 
I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  one  should  use  all  or  any  of 
the  methods  of  this  chapter  in  a  given  case ;  but  I  am  confi- 
dent that  the  principles  will  be  found  helpful  in  most 
cases.  Especially  do  I  hope  that  they  will  aid  in  the 
interpretation  of  individual  experience.  The  student  of 
these  chapters  should  be  gaining  experience.  He  w^ill 
profit  also  by  the  study  of  the  experience  of  others.  For 
this  purpose  I  advise  at  this  point  the  study  of  the  so- 
called  occasional  addresses,  rather  than  speeches  that 
have  responded  to  personal  or  national  crises;  for 
crises  are  likely  to  supply  interest  regardless  of  the 
skill  of  the  speaker. 

For  the  purpose,  Baker's  Forms  of  Public  Address  will  be  found  as  good 
as  any  single  volume.  Wood's  After-Dinner  Speeches  is  an  interesting 
collection.  Reed's  Modern  Eloquence  in  ten  volumes,  contains  speeches 
of  all  kinds  in  great  number. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  EXPOSITORY  SPEECH 

The  second  purpose  of  a  speaker,  in  our  classification, 
is  to  make  clear,  to  explain.  Exposition  is  not  always 
easily  distinguished  from  other  forms  of  discourse;  but 
it  is  sufficiently  accurate  to  say  that  when  the  chief 
purpose  of  a  speech  is  understanding,  the  speech  is  exposi- 
tory, even  though  the  means  include  narration,  descrip- 
tion, and  even  argument. 

Importance  of  Exposition.  There  are  good  reasons 
why  the  student  of  public  speaking  should  give  some  at- 
tention to  exposition,  although  to  convince  and  to  per- 
suade are  more  often  his  purposes.  First,  there  are  many 
times  in  which  understanding  is  his  final  aim.  This  is 
particularly  true  in  lectures,  and  is  often  true  in  busi- 
ness affairs.  Secondly,  exposition  is  often  the  basis 
of  speeches  which  aim  at  conviction  or  persuasion.  Most 
disputes  are  due  to  different  understandings  of  facts. 
There  can  be  no  sound  argument  without  clear  exposition 
as  its  foundation.  Sometimes  all  one  has  to  do  to  win  an 
argument,  is  to  set  forth  lucidly  the  facts  in  the  case. 
It  is  said  that  judges  would  often  stop  Lincoln  after  his 
statement  of  fact  and  before  he  began  to  argue,  with  "Now 
we  will  hear  the  other  side."  To  convince  a  manager 
that  he  should  adopt  a  certain  machine  may  require  only 
that  you  demonstrate  its  operation  to  him.  Thirdly, 
the  student  finds  the  exposition  of  subjects  in  which  he  is 
interested  q-uite  as  good  as  any  other  kind  of  speech 
for  helping  him  to  forget  himself.  There  are  probably 
more  students  interested  in  subjects  adapted  to  exposition 
than  in  those  adapted  to  argument;  but  all  kinds  should 
be  used  in  practice. 

241 


242  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Speeches  Purely  Expository.  In  taking  up  the  explana- 
toty  speech,  I  ad\dse  that  the  first  attempt  be  pure  exposi- 
tion; that  is,  a  speech  in  which  understanding  is  the  final 
aim.  If  you  choose  to  explain  the  Diesel  engine,  stop 
with  explanation  and  avoid  all  argument  that  it  is  better 
than  another  type.  If  you  choose  to  explain  the  ethical 
doctrine  of  hedonism,  do  not  attempt  to  prove  it  right  or 
wrong.  Keep  as  far  from  advocacy  as  if  you  were  explain- 
ing the  seasons  on  Mars.  (This  does  not  mean  that 
you  must  be  dull  and  cold.  You  should  be  highly  in- 
terested in  your  subject,  and  should  have  a  keen  desire  to 
make  your  hearers  understand.)  There  is  a  reason  back 
of  this  suggestion.  If  you  are  using  your  explanation 
as  an  argument,  you  are  likely  to  neglect  clearness  and 
also  to  warp  your  exposition  in  your  desire  to  ad^^ocate. 
You  should  learn  to  make  the  most  impartial  explanations. 
Indeed,  you  should  make  an  impartial  explanation,  even 
when  you  are  to  base  argument  upon  it.  Authorities 
agree  to  the  doctrine,  which  young  speakers  find  hard  to 
accept  and  older  ones  to  practice,  that  the  introductory 
and  incidental  explanations  in  debate  should  be  without 
bias;  not  only  because  this  is  the  honest  method,  but 
also  because  it  is  most  effective  to  give  an  exposition 
which  the  other  party  must  acknowledge  fair. 

Argumentative  Speeches  Expository  in  Method.  After 
one  has  practiced  somewhat  upon  the  purely  expository 
speech,  he  may  take  up  speeches  in  which  exposition  is 
used  as  a  method  of  convincing  or  persuading;  for  example, 
one  may  explain  the  commission  form  of  government  in 
such  a  way  that  its  virtues  become  apparent.  One  can  see 
at  once  the  temptation  to  distort  the  facts ; .  but  properly 
used  this  is  as  legitimate  as  any  method  of  argument. 

Methods  of  Exposition.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  discuss 
at  length  in  this  text  the  methods  of  exposition.  The 
essential  element  is  clearness,  to  which  we  have  already 


THE  EXPOSITORY  SPEECH  243 

V 

given  attention.  First,  one  should  analyze  the  topic  or 
process  or  problem  to  be  explained,  in  order  to  determine 
the  elements  that  need  attention,  and  to  make  understand- 
ing easier  by  the  consideration  of  but  one  feature  at  a 
time.  Then  there  is  need  of  clear  definition  of  such  terms 
as  are  unfamiliar,  or  are  used  in  special  senses,  or  terms 
of  which  the  popular  understanding  is  vague  or  confused.^ 
A  third  means  of  explaining  is  by  giving  examples,  as  in 
the  actual  exhibition  of  articles  or  pictorial  representations 
of  them,  or  by  citing  instances.  Much  that  has  been  said 
of  illustration  is  applicable  here.  Of  great  importance 
in  exposition  is  the  comparing  and  contrasting  of  what 
is  to  be  explained  with  what  is  already  understood, 
and  this  suggests  again  the  need  of  knowing  the  informa- 
tion and  the  limitations  of  one's  hearers.  The  English 
game  of  football,  says  a  student,  stands  between  American 
Association  football  and  basketball.  Assuming  this  to 
be  sound,  and  that  his  hearers  know  the  games  mentioned, 
by  indicating  now  the  points  of  likeness  and  of  difference, 
he  can  give  them  an  understanding.  This  is  our  standard 
method:  This  unfamiliar  game,  form  of  government, 
belief,  automobile  is  like  this  familiar  game,  etc.,  except — . 
Clearly  enough,  the  appeal  to  imagination  is  important 
in  explaining  things  and  processes  not  before  the  eyes. 
iVThe  selection  of  details,  the  order  of  their  presentation, 
the  suppression  of  what  is  not  pertinent  and  helpful, 
unity,  emphasis,  coherence,  point  of  view, — all  these  are 
important   in   exposition.^  // 

For  further  study  I  suggest  the  chapter  on  Clearness  in  Wendell's 
English  Composition,  followed  by  what  is  said  on  exposition  and  the 
examples  in  Gardiner's  Forms  of  Prose  Literature,  Lamont's  Specimens 
of  Exposition,  with  its  introduction,  Genung's  Working  Principles  of 
Rhetoric  and   Jeliffe's   Handbook   of  Exposition.     A   more   elementary 

^At  the  beginning  of  the  next  chapter  I  am  compelled  to  make  a 
somewhat  elaborate  attempt  at  definition.  A  better  example  will  be 
found  in  Baker's  Principles  of  Argumentation,  pp.  29-36. 


244  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

work,  Elements  of  English  Composition  by  Gardiner,  Kittredge  and 
Arnold,  contains  a  simple  treatment  of  explanation  with  suggestive 
examples.  Observe  the  means  by  which  the  explanations  are  made 
interesting;  and  also  the  use  of  narration  and  of  charts.  Any  good 
work  on  argumentation  will  furnish  a  treatment  of  exposition  as  an  aid 
to  argument. 

Examples  of  exposition  should  be  studied  in  addition  to  those  in  the 
works  referred  to,  ^hich  are  for  the  most  part  not  drawn  from  speech 
literature.  The  lecture  is  the  form  best  adapted  to  our  purpose.  Find 
lectures  that  are  pure  exposition,  and  also  those  that  utilize  exposition 
in  arguments,  such  as  Huxley's  lectures  on  Evolution. 

Pictures,  Charts  and  Maps.  I  wish  to  make  some 
simple  suggestions  that  are  the  product  of  experience  in 
my  own  classes;  and  first,  in  regard  to  the  use  of  charts 
and  the  like.  These  are  especially  important  in  exposi- 
tion, and  some  explanations  are  impossible  without  them. 
A  plan  of  battle,  a  machine,  or  a  building,  plainly  enough 
need  graphic  representation,  if  accuracy  of  understanding 
is  sought.  We  find  too  that  complicated  statistics,  as  of 
the  increase  of  population  or  the  increased  cost  of  living, 
are  better  understood  when  worked  out  in  ''curves." 
Stereopticon  pictures,  and  even  moving  pictures,  are 
likely  to  have  a  large  part  in  instruction  in  the  future. 

In  using  any  graphic  representation,  be  sure  to  have 
it  large  and  distinct  enough  for  all  to  see,  else  it  may  prove 
only  an  annoyance.  Superfluity  of  detail  is  a  common 
cause  of  indistinctness.  A  map  with  only  necessary 
details  and  mth  sharp  distinctions  in  colors,  is  better 
adapted  to  public  work  than  the  most  complete  publica- 
tion. It  is  unwise  to  embellish  a  diagram  with  details 
which  are  not  pertinent.  These  are  objectionable,  not 
only  as  decreasing  the  distinctness  of  essential  details, 
but  as  distracting  attention  and  perhaps  provoking 
curiosity  as  to  where  they  come  into  the  explanation. 

Avoid  complexity  so  far  as  you  can.  That  is,  if  you  are 
explaining  the  steam  engine  to  those  not  learned  in  its 


THE  EXPOSITORY  SPEECH  245 

workings,  present  a  simple  form  of  it,  one  which  embodies 
the  prmciple  but  lacks  elaboration;  then  if  it  is  desired 
to  explain  the  elaborations,  these  may  be  sketched  in  or 
presented  in  a  series  of  charts. 

President  Schurman,  in  his  lecture  on  The  Balkan  Wars,  shows  a 
map  of  the  Balkan  countries  before  the  first  war  of  1913  began;  another 
of  the  boundaries  after  this  war,  with  the  disputed  territory  indicated; 
and  a  third  map  of  the  countries  after  the  second  war. 

A  speaker  who  has  confidence  in  his  handling  of  chalk 
or  crayon,  may  sometimes  find  it  advantageous  to  develop 
his  chart  from  the  simplest  outlines  to  its  completed  form 
as  he  speaks.  This  gives  well  the  idea  of  progress  and 
development;  as  for  instance  in  describing  an  army's 
campaign.  A  speaker  who  attempts  drawing  on  the 
platform  should  know  precisely  what  he  is  going  to  do, 
what  details  he  is  to  use  and  what  scale  is  needed.  Then 
he  should  practice  the  drawing  to  make  sure  he  can  do  it. 
It  is  well,  if  the  drawing  presents  any  difficulty,  to  prepare 
paper  with  the  whole  or  certain  details  and  pivotal  points 
faintly  indicated,  or  with  the  bare  outlines  boldly  marked. 

There  are  certain  advantages  over  drawing  on  the  plat- 
form, in  a  series  of  prepared  charts.  First,  the  series 
keeps  a  better  means  of  comparison  before  the  audience 
at  all  stages  of  the  speech.  To  attempt  to  indicate  dif- 
ferent stages  with  different  colors  or  other  means  on  one 
chart,  is  usually  confusing.  ^Secondly,  the  prepared  charts 
are  likely  to  be  better  made.  Thirdly,  drawing  upon  the 
platform  may  attract  too  much  attention  to  itself  as  an 
act.  Either  very  clumsy  drawing  or  a  display  of  skill 
may  be  too  interesting,  even  amusing.  Fourthly,  drawing 
which  requires  much  care  may  take  the  speaker's  atten- 
tion unduly  from  his  audience.  These  comments,  how- 
ever, need  deter  no  one  from  a  few  simple  strokes.  Here, 
as  in  all,  the  speaker's  business  is  to  keep  attention  upon 
essentials. 


246  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

One  should  resist  the  temptation  to  look  at  a  chart 
when  not  speaking  of  it.  The  young  speaker  especially 
finds  his  chart  a  welcome  refuge  from  the  eyes  of  his 
audiences;  but  also  those  not  embarrassed  find  their 
charts  drawing  them  unduly.  The  audience  is  only  too 
ready  to  look  at  anything  their  attention  is  called  to. 
It  is  often  best  to  keep  charts  out  of  sight  until  they  are 
needed,  and  to  remove  them  from  sight  when  their  use 
is  finished,  unless  to  do  so  distracts  attention  more  than 
their  presence.  A  little  preparatory  ingenuity  may  well 
be  exercised.  Even  when  referring  to  a  chart,  the  speaker 
should  avoid  so  far  as  possible  turning  his  back  to  his 
audience.  A  glance  at  the  chart  is  enough  to  give  him  his 
direction  and  he  can  keep  his  eyes  upon  his  hearers  most 
of  the  time.  He  should  avoid  talking  to  the  blackboard;  lest 
he  become  indistinct  and  lose  touch  with  his  audience. 

Do  not  stand  between  audience  and  chart  when  it  is  in 
use.  The  speaker  should  stand  to  one  side,  facing  the 
front  as  nearly  as  is  convenient,  and  using  for  pointing 
the  hand  nearest  the  chart;  that  is,  if  he  is  at  the  right 
of  his  chart  he  should  use  his  left  hand.  It  is  best  in  most 
cases  to  have  a  pointer,  as  this  helps  in  keeping  out  of  the 
line  of  vision. 

Degree  6f  Clearness.  WendelP  defines  clearness  as 
"the  distinguishing  quality  of  a  style  that  cannot  be  mis- 
understood, "n  This  sets  up  an  ideal,  but  a  good  ideal  to 
have  in  mind.  Students  of  public  speech  are  apt  to  take 
as  their  standard  a  style  that  can  be  understood,  thro\\'ing 
upon  their  hearers  rather  than  assuming  themselves  the 
task  of  making  their  thoughts  as  clear  as  possible.  They 
rarely  appreciate  the  difficulty  of  making  one's  thoughts 
clear.  Painful  experience  brings  home  the  truth  that 
language  is  at  best  but  a  poor  instrument,  that  it  is  indeed 

^English  Composition,  p.  194. 


THE  EXPOSITORY  SPEECH  247 

difficult  to  tell  the  truth,  and  that  to  convey  fully  an  idea 
above  the  grade  of  *'It  is  now  ten  o'clock,"  is  a  marvel. 
Words  have  different  shades  of  meaning  in  different 
minds,  and  the  prepossessions  of  one's  hearers  may  make 
confusion  of  the  most  careful  statement.  Those  who 
have  an  erroneous  understanding  of  a  matter  vdW  often 
adapt  a  correct  explanation  to  their  own  misconception, 
hearing  what  coincides  and  ignoring  what  does  not  coin- 
cide with  their  expectations.  It  would  be  illuminating 
for  the  average  student  to  give  a  class  directions  for  work 
and  discover  how  many  different  understandings  a  class 
of  twenty -five  will  gain.  He  might  be  impressed  with  the 
need  of  extreme  care,  not  only  because  of  the  natural 
difficulties,  but  also  because  of  the  desire  of  some  to 
misinterpret.  The  only  safe  standard  is,  be  as  clear  as 
you  can  under  the  circumstances;  and  what  you  cannot 
make  clear,  do  not  attempt. 

Consider  the  Audience.  But  clearness  is  a  relative 
matter,  and  the  question  at  once  arises.  Clear  to  whom? 
Must  one  seek  to  be  clear  to  the  youngest  or  least  intelli- 
gent person  present;  so  clear  that  "the  wayfaring  man 
though  a  fool  need  not  err  therein".'^  No,  that  might  be 
to  bore  the  more  intelligent;  but  on  the  other  hand,  one 
cannot  afford  to  leave  any  large  portion  of  an  audience  in 
the  dark.  There  is  no  rule  to  give ;  one  must  simply  treat 
the  situation  intelligently.  But  if  he  is  simple  and  clear 
and  concrete  in  his  method,  uses  simple,  idiomatic  English, 
and  yet  avoids  all  suggestion  of  children's  talk,  he  can 
usually  satisfy  most  of  the  intelligences  in  any  audience. 

My  observation  is  that  students  are  to  some  extent 
unfitted  for  explanation  before  general  audiences  by  their 
school  training.  They  are  trained  for  many  years  in 
explaining  in  recitations,  reports  and  examinations,  to 
teachers  who  understand  better  than  they  themselves. 
In  explaining  to  a  teacher  the  aim  is  not  really  to  make 


«48  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

clear,  but  to  convince  the  teacher  that  one  understands. 
And  tlie  teacher,  usually  unable  to  put  himself  in  the  posi- 
tion of  one  uninformed,  pressed  for  time,  and  pleased  with 
some  slight  evidence  of  understanding,  rarely  insists 
upon  a  full  ex])lanation.  As  a  result,  the  student  does  not 
come  to  feel  the  need  for  clear  analysis  (an  analysis  has 
usually  been  given  him),  of  simplifying  terms,  of  finding 
the  best  order,  of  repetition,  illustration,  helpful  schemes, 
summaries,  and  all  that  makes  for  clear  exposition  to 
those  who  do  not  understand  in  advance.  He  gives  a 
few  bare  statements  and  wonders  that  he  is  not  understood. 
Emotion  and  Expostion.  Gardiner^  stresses  the  fact 
that  even  in  exposition,  coldest  form  of  discourse,  we 
cannot  disregard  the  feelings  of  our  audience.  By 
this  he  means  chiefly  that  we  must  make  our  exposition 
interesting.  But  our  hearers  may  be  more  than  indif- 
ferent; they  may  be  prejudiced.  They  may  be  so  ac- 
customed to  a  certain  way  of  thinking,  or  method,  or 
machine,  that  they  positively  object  to  hearing  of  any 
other.  Audiences  may  easily  be  found  who  would  object 
to  the  most  impartial  attempt  to  expound  to  them  evolu- 
tion, the  peace  propaganda,  or  socialism.  It  may  be 
necessary  before  explanation  is  attempted,  to  interest 
such  an  audience,  perhaps  somewhat  indirectly,  in  the 
distasteful  topic.  In  general,  tact  is  needed.  Tact  may 
be  needed  also  to  a^^oid  boring  or  even  offending  the  better 
infonned  portion  of  an  audience,  while  explaining  ele- 
mentary facts  to  the  less  informed;  and  more  in  correct- 
ing the  mistaken  notions  of  those  who  think  they  under- 
stand. A  speaker  need  not  say  bluntly  that  his  audience 
is  ignorant;  but  may  present  the  matter  correctly  as  if 
reviewing  or  setting  in  order,  or  he  may  say  that  he  will 
state  for  the  benefit  of  a  few  what  many  of  the  audience 
are  probably  familiar  with. 

^Forms  of  Prose  Literature,  pp.  56,  61. 


CHAPTER  XII 

INFLUENCING     CONDUCT PERSUASION WHEN     ACTIVE 

OPPOSITION  IS  LACKING 

It  is  convenient  to  use  the  word  persuasion  when  we 
come  to  treat  of  influencing  conduct.  The  word  is  not 
without  its  difficulties,  since  usage  varies;  yet  there  seems 
to  be  no  good  substitute.  A  review  of  the  authorities 
justifies  us  in  accepting  tentatively  Whateley's^  definition 
of  the  word:  ["Persuasion,  properly  so-called,  i.  e.,  the 
art  of  influencing  the  mil.'*  To  influence  the  will  is 
identical  with  influencing  conduct,  and  includes  inducing 
or  checking  single  acts  or  affecting  a  prolonged  course  of 
conduct;  but,  as  we  shall  use  the  term  persuasion,  it  is 
not  limited  to  inducing  physical  acts,  butHncludes  chang- 
ing the  mental  attitude^!  as  by  removing  prejudice,  bring- 
ing about  a  fair-minded  attitude  toward  a  person,  a 
willingness  to  consider  a  proposition,  or  a  desire  to  accept 
it.  The  term  is  broad  enough  to  include  conviction, 
but  we  shall  for  convenience  use  the  latter  term  to  desig- 
nate the  process  of  "bringing  any  one  to  recognize  the 
truth  of  what  he  has  not  before  accepted."^ 

In  the  usage  of  many  persuasion  and  conviction  are  synonyms,  as 
are  also  the  verbs  persuade  and  convince;  that  is,  persuasion  is  used  to 
cover  the  meanings  ascribed  to  both  above,  though  conviction  is  limited 
to  inducing  belief.  Thus,  the  New  English  Dictionary  defines  persuasion 
as  "the  presenting  of  inducements  or  winning  arguments,  the  addressing 
of  reasonings,  appeals,  entreaties  to  a  person  to  do  or  believe  something." 
But  when  the  words  are  distinguished,  they  are  most  often  distinguished 
as  above;  and  at  least  so  far  as  the  verbs  are  concerned,  there  is  some 
tendency  to  insist  upon  the  distinction.  The  same  dictionary  defines 
persuade:  "To  induce-  to  believe  something;"  but  adds  that  this  use 
is   "somewhat  archaic."     It  then  gives  the  further  definition:     "To 

^Elements  of  Rhetoric,  p.  117.        ^New  English  Dictionary. 

249 


250  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

induce  or  win  to  an  act  or  a  course  of  action;  to  draw  the  will  of  another 
to  something  by  inclining  his  judgment  or  desire  to  it;  to  prevail  upon, 
or  urge  successfully  to  do  something."  The  Century  Dictionary  says: 
"To  convince  a  person  is  to  satisfy  his  understanding  as  to  the  truth  of 
a  certain  statement;  to  persuade  him  is,  by  derivation,  to  affect  his  will 
by  motives,  but  it  has  long  been  used  also  for  convince.  .  .  .  There 
is  a  marked  tendency  now  to  confine  persuade  to  its  own  distinctive 
meaning."  Fernald's  Synonyms  distinguishes  thus:  "To  persuade 
is  to  bring  the  will  of  another  to  a  desired  decision  by  some  influence 
exerted  upon  it  short  of  compulsion;  one  may  be  convinced  that  the 
earth  is  round;  he  may  be  persuaded  to  travel  around  it."  And  the 
following  is  from  Smith's  Synonyms  Discriminated: :  "To  persuade  has 
much  in  common  with  convince;  but  conviction  is  the  result  of  the  under- 
standing, persuasion  of  the  will.  .  .  .  We  are  convinced  of  truth 
and  facts.  We  are  persuaded  to  act  and  behave.  .  .  .  We  may  be 
persuaded  to  act  against  conviction."  In  dealing  with  words  so  lacking 
in  precision,  we  can  only  fix  upon  meanings  for  ourselves,  preferably 
those  supported  by  the  best  usage,  and  then  try  to  follow  them  consis- 
tently. 

Those  to  whom  the  term  persuasion  means  inducing  to  believe  usually 
distinguish  it  from  conviction  by  saying  that  to  persuade  is  to  secure 
belief  by  rather  emotional  methods,  while  to  convince  is  to  use  logic 
and  reasoning.  So  The  Standard  Dictionary  says  persuade  means 
"to  induce  to  believe  willingly."  Here  we  have,  probably,  a  hint  of 
why  the  words  convice  and  persuade  have  been  confused :  To  induce  a 
man  to  believe  it  is  often  necessary  to  make  him  willing  to  consider  the 
proposition  at  all,  to  remove  prejudice  and  induce  a  willingness  to  be- 
lieve. Now  this  is  a  matter  of  emotional  attitude,  and  changing 
emotional  attitude  is  included  in  the  proper  work  of  persuasion.  In  this 
position  I  have  the  support  of  Baker's  Principles  of  Argumentation,  in 
which  it  is  said  (p.  7):  yConviction  aims  only  to  produce  agreement 
between  writer  and  reader;  persuasion  aims  to  prepare  the  way  for 
the  process  of  conviction  and  to  produce  action  as  the  result  of  convic- 
tion.' 


^I  am  aware  that  a  seemingly  simple  way  to  cut  the  Gordian  knot 
of  these  entwined  meanings  is  to  declare  that  inducing  to  believe  and 
to  act  are  one  and  the  same  thing.  I  admit  that  we  secure  the  two  ends 
by  much  the  same  processes,  but  that  does  not  make  them  identical. 
It  seems  to  be  chiefly  a  matter  of  how  much  meaning  one  gives  the  term 
believe.  If  we  say  the  only  difference  between  believing  and  acting  is 
one  of  extension,  still  we  must  recognize  that  difference.  I  cannot 
bring  myself  to  this  easy  solution.  The  distinction  seems  to  me  a  valu- 
able one,  and  it  certainly  is  imbedded  in  the  common  sense  of  the  race. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  251 

There  are  those  who  feel  that  the  word  persuasion  is  tainted  with  a 
suggestion  of  improper  methods.  This  probably  arises  from  the  errone- 
ous belief  that  our  emotions  are  necessarily  unworthy.  Emotions  are 
important  in  persuasion,  and  they  may  be  used  improperly,  just  as 
false  facts  and  fallacious  reasoning  may  be  employed.  At  any  rate, 
please  understand  that  in  all  our  discussion  persuasion  is  free  from  any 
moral  implication. 

Belief  and  Action.  Nothing  would  seem  to  be  a  plainer 
lesson  of  experience  than  that  we  mortals  often  leave 
undone  those  things  we  know  we  ought  to  do  and  do 
those  things  we  know  we  ought  not  to  do;  yet  this  truth 
is  constantly  ignored  by  speakers,  and  with  bad  results. 
This  truth  is  proverbial:  "The  spirit  is  willing,  but  the 
flesh  is  weak;"  Video  meliora  proboque;  deteriora  sequor. 
Certain  knowledge  that  lack  of  exercise  is  ruining  one's 
health  does  not  necessarily  drive  one  out  of  doors;  yet 
one  does  not  for  a  moment  believe  that  one's  work  or 
pleasure  is  worth  the  cost.  There  must  be,  then,  more 
than  intellectual  acceptance  of  truth  to  secure  action. 

It  may  seem  absurd  to  insist  upon  such  a  truism  as  that  men  do  not 
always  act  in  accordance  with  judgment;  but  I  write  out  of  memory 
of  class-room  struggles.  When  regarding  a  cold,  barren,  tactless  speech 
I  have  asked,  "What  elements  of  persuasion  does  this  contain?"  I  have 
received  the  answer,  "Does  it  not  prove  my  claim?  What  more  is 
needed?"  Apparently  I  have  appeared  a  shocking  cynic  when  I  have 
suggested  that  men  are  not  always  governed  by  pure  reason.  What 
marvels  we  should  be  if  we  lived  up,  as  is  assumed,  to  all  we  agree  to  in 
the  words  of  our  preachers !     But — 

"The  sermon  now  ended. 
Each  turned  and  descended. 
The  eels  went  on  eeling. 
The  pike  went  on  stealing; 
Much  delighted  were  they. 
But — preferred  the  old  way." 

Persuasion  an  Everyday  Matter.  Let  us  get  clearly 
in  mind  that  we  are  not  dealing  with  an  artificial  or  un- 
usual problem.  When  you  induce  a  man  to  join  your 
party,  or  buy  an  automobile,  or  improve  his  habits,  or  go 


«52  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

fishing  with  you,  or  pay  his'bills,  or  open  his  mind  to  the 
posssibility  that  the  Germans,  or  the  EngUsh,  are  well- 
meaning  men,  you  are  persuading  him.  Persuasion  is  as 
familiar  as  living,  and  you  will  recognize  at  once  its 
means,  such  as  arguments,  motives,  suggestions,  personal 
influence,  tact. 

Importance  of  Persuasion  to  the  Speaker.  When  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  said:^  "I  define  oratory  to  be  the  art  of 
influencing  conduct  with  truth  sent  home  by  all  the 
resources  of  the  living  man,"  he  was  expressing  the  ancient 
and  true  belief  in  regard  to  the  peculiar  and  highest 
purpose  of  public  speech.  Not  all  speech-making  is 
oratory,  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  |  chief 
purpose  of  public  speaking  is  persuasion.  |  It  is  in  persuasion 
that  the  spoken  word  is  superior  to  the  written.  Speak- 
ing generally,  the  written  word  is  more  effectual  for  mak- 
ing id^s  clear;  but  when  men  are  to  be  aroused  to  act, 
to  vote,  to  change  a  habit,  to  adopt  a  course  of  con- 
duct, to  kindle  with  enthusiasm,  then  the  speaker  is 
needed. 

Let  us  glance  at  the  more  common  forms  of  public  discourse.  College 
lectures  form  an  exceptional  group;  their  end  is  usually  instruction. 
But  when  a  college  professor  delivers  a  lecture  which  has  as  its  end  the 
cultivation  of  a  taste  for  good  literature,  or  a  high  sense  of  professional 
honor,  he  is  persuading.  On  Chautauqua  and  lyceum  platforms  some 
lectures  are  for  entertainment,  some  for  instruction,  but  many  are 
persuasive,  as  those  by  Bryan  and  LaFoUette. 

In  deliberative  speeches,  before  legislatures,  conventions,  or  on  the 
stump,  wherever  policies  are  to  be  decided  by  vote,  persuasion  is  promi- 
nent in  the  appeal  to  motive,  the  arousal  of  feeling  and  the  recognition 
of  prejudice.  In  the  pulpit  persuasion  is  the  dominant  note;  exposition 
and  argument  are  but  means  to  the  end  of  influencing  conduct.  All 
other  kinds  of  speeches  are  loosely  classed  as  Occasional.  It  is  true  that 
their  end  often  seems  to  be  mere  entertainment;  or  the  display  of  the 
speaker's  powers,  as  in  Webster's  overrated  Bunker  Hill  addresses. 
But  the  more  serious  purpose  of  such  memorial  addresses,  addresses 

^Lecture  entitled  Oratory. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  253 

at  celebrations  and  eulogies,  is  to  inspire  the  hearers  to  greater  patriotism 
or  nobler  living.  Lincoln's  Gettysburg  Address  is  a  model  in  miniature 
for  all  such  orations.  The  moral  is  not  always  pointed;  the  most  per- 
suasive speeches  often  let  the  exhortation  be  implied. 

Even  at  jovial  banquets  few  speakers  will  be  content  merely  to  "give 
a  stunt";  there  is  usually  a  persuasive^point.  The  fun  is  used  for  a 
purpose  beyond  itself;  though  there  are  occasions  when  any  serious 
purpose  is  manifestly  out  of  place.  But  most  banquets  at  which  there 
is  speaking,  are  not  merely  jovial.  It  was  at  the  annual  dinner  of  the 
New  England  Society,  in  December,  1876,  that  George  William  Curtis 
delivered  his  speech  on  The  Puritan  Principle:  Liberty  under  the  Law, 
which,  though  it  began  humorously  and  blended  with  the  spirit  of  the 
occasion,  yet,  in  the  judgment  of  Edward  Everett  Hale,  turned  the  nation 
from  civil  war  over  the  contested  presidential  election  of  that  year. 

With  regard  to  forensic  addresses,  it  is  well  known  that  lawyers  in- 
dulge in  more  than  logical  discussion  of  the  evidence;  and  even  before 
the  highest  court  persuasion  has  its  place.  Webster's  plea  before  the 
Supreme  Court  in  the  Dartmouth  College  case  is  the  stock  example. 
Gardiner's  Forms  of  Prose  Literature  (pp.  79,  316)  furnishes  opportunity 
for  an  interesting  study  of  Joseph  Choate's  argument  against  the  Income 
Tax  law  of  1894,  with  reference  to  its  persuasion. 

The  Foundation  Principle  of  Persuasion.  We  now  need 
a  principle  by  means  of  which  we  can  systematize  the 
suggestions  for  persuasion  drawn  from  common  experience. 
Why  do  we  will  to  do  or  not  to  do?  We  turn  again  to 
Professor  James  •} 

iWhat  holds  attention  determines  action.! 

It  seems  as  if  we  ought  to  look  for  the  secret  of  an  idea's 
impulsiveness  ...  in  the  urgency  with  which  it 
is  able  to  compel  attention  and  dominate  in  conscious- 
ness. Let  it  once  so  dominate,  let  no  other  ideas  succeed 
in  displacing  it,  and  whatever  motor  effects  belong  to  it 
by  nature  mil  inevitably  occur.  ...  In  short,  one 
does  not  see  any  case  in  which  the  steadfast  occupancy 
of  consciousness  does  not  appear  to  be  the  prime  condition 
of  impulsive  power.  It  is  still  more  obviously  the  prime 
condition  of  inhibitive  power.  What  checks  our  impulses 
is  the  mere  thinking  of  reasons  t©  the  contrary — it  is  their 

^Briefer  Course,  p.  448. 


'2o4  PUBLIC  SPEAKING" 

baro  presence  in  the  mind  which  gives  the  veto,  and  makes 
acts,  othonviso  stxiiictive.  impossible  to  perform.  If  we 
could  only  for_i:ot  our  scruples,  our  doubts,  our  fears,  what 
exultant  onorijy  we  should  for  awhile  display!" 

»"C'onsent  to  the  idea's  undivided  ]>rt^sencv,  this  is 
effort's  sole  achievement.  Its  only  function  is  to  get 
this  filling  of  cx^nscnt  into  the  mind.  And  for  this  there 
is  but  one  way.  The  idea  to  l>e  consent cii  to  nuist  be 
kept  friMU  flickering  and  going  out.  It  must  be  held 
steadily  before  tlie  mind  until  it  Jills  the  mind." 

■-**W*e  thus  And  that  uc  rtiich  the  heort  of  our  inquiry 
into  volitio7i  when  ur  Oi^k  hi/  what  process  it  is  thai  the 
thought  of  aruj  gircn  action  comes  to  prevail  stahly  in  the 
mind.'' 

Support  for  this  theory  is  abumiant.  Thus  Angell  says:*  "Volition 
is  nothing  more  or  less  than  a  matter  of  attention.  When  we  can  keep 
our  attention  firmly  fixeii  upon  a  line  of  conduct  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
com^x'titors,  our  decision  is  already  made."  And  Titchener  says:* 
'*So  far  as  I  can  see  the  term  *wiir  atTords  the  best  general  title  for  two 
great  grvrnps  of  psychological  facts:  the  facts  of  attention  and  the  facts 
of  action.  There  can,  1  think.  W  no  doubt  that  these  two  groups  are 
intimately  rclatcvl.  that  action  is  simply  a  special  case  of  attention." 

"What  holds  attention  determines  action."  To  do  an 
act.  then,  give  it  exclusive  attention.  To  resist  an  im- 
pulse, keep  your  mind  upon  other  ideas,  ivasons  wliy  you 
should  not,  "inhibiting  ideas;"  or.  better,  because  easier, 
ujxm  some  other  line  of  conduct.  If  I  wish  to  stay  at 
work  this  afternoon,  I  must  not  let  m>-  mind  dwell  on  tlie 
ball  game,  but  keep  it  steadily  on  the  work  and  the  joy 
of  getting  it  done. 

We  see  this  principle  working  out  freely  in  the  young  child.  He 
reaches  for  the  moon  because  the  impulse  to  reach  for  it  is  not  yet  asso- 
ciated with  the  uselessness  of  so  doing.  When  the  mi\\"ise  mother  says 
to  her  child  of  three.  "Don't  scratch  the  piano  with  that  nail."  Johnny, 
who  had  not  thought  of  such  a  deeti.  now  has  his  mind  filled  with  the 

>Idem.  p.  4o:?.  -Idem.  p.  450.  ^Psyrholo^y,  p.  S97.  Cf.  Creighton, 
Thf  Will,  p.  ^6;  Pillsbury,  Attrution,  p.  lOo  and  Essntttals  of  Psy- 
choloijy.  pp.  301-4;    Thorndike.   Ehmfnts  of  Psycholoffy,  pp.  ^79-^1. 

*Frcling  and  Atiftition^  p.  ^7. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  ^55 

image  of  a  fine  scratch  in  the  varnish,  and  toddles  straight  for  the 
piano, — unless  he  has  already  had  such  experience  with  his  mother's 
donts  that  an  inhibiting  image  of  pain  comes  to  divide  and  dominate 
his  attention. 

We  may  draw  illustrations  from  certain  abnormal  states:  A  man  may 
gradually  become  obsessed  with  the  thought  of  committing  a  crime. 
More  and  more  he  finds  it  difficult  to  drive  the  idea  from  his  mind;  less 
and  less  is  he  able  to  keep  in  mind  the  reasons  why  he  should  not  do  the 
deed.  He  becomes  a  monomaniac  and,  unless  restrained,  will  commit 
the  crime.  In  the  hypnotic  state  whatever  action  is  suggested  holds 
exclusive  attention;  no  inhibiting  idea  of  absurdity  comes  to  mind, 
and  a  suggestion  is  at  once  followed. 

Action  after  Deliberation.  The  principle  set  forth  is 
not  applicable  merely  to  those  actions  performed  "just 
because  they  occurred  to  us;"  but  equally  to  action  after 
deliberation.  It  is  after  a  careful  analysis  of  the  "five 
types  of  decision,"  that  James  arrives  at  the  conclusions 
quoted.  Whether  we  weigh  the  pros  and  cons  long  and 
carefully,  or  give  a  "snap"  judgment,  we  must  come  to  a 
time  when  we  push  one  set  of  ideas  out  of  mind  and  give 
full  attention  to  the  other  and  opposing  set;  when  the 
thought  of  one  course  of  action,  in  Baldwin's  words, ^ 
"swells  and  fills  consciousness."  The  man  of  determined 
action  does  not  let  his  attention  fix  itself  again  upon  the 
rejected  possibility,  lest  he  become  a  whiffler.  Having 
put  his  hand  to  the  plow,  he  goes  forward  and  lo^ks  not 
back.  He  must  not  hang  vacillating,  like  Hamlet, 
between  "to  be  or  not  to  be,"  or  to  do  or  not  to  do,  until 
"  ...  the  native  hue  of  resolution 
Is  sicklied  o'er  with  the  pale  cast  of  thought." 

We  recall  the  sad  fate  of  the  classic  donkey,  that  chancing  to  stop 
precisely  halfway  between  two  cocks  of  hay,  was  unable  to  choose  be- 
tween them  and  so  starved  to  death.  It  seems  to  be  the  task  of  the 
persuader  to  turn  such  a  poor  beast  about  till  he  squarely  faces  one  heap 
and  say,  "Go  to  it!"  and  if  possible  to  put  on  blinders  to  cut  oflf  the  back- 
ward look. 

^Handbook  of  Psychology,  p.  355. 


256  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

The  man  of  weak,  unstable  will  seems  to  be  one  who  cannot  face 
unpleasant  facts  and  rally  to  his  support  the  ideas  of  remote  consequences. 
"IvCt's  not  think  of  that,"  he  says.^ 

Theory  of  Persuasion.  JTo  persuade  a  man,  then, 
seems  to  be  nothing  more  or  less  than  to  win  his  undivided 
attention  to  the  desired  conduct,  to  make  him  think  of 
that  and  stop  thinking  of  other  courses,  or  of  any  inhibit^ 
ing  ideas."  |  At  this  stage  we  may  venture  a  itew  definition 
of  persuasion,  one  which  would  have  b^k,  meaningless 
before,  and  which  may  not  be  entirely  clear  till  we  are  in 
the  next  chapter,  j  Persuasion  is  the  process  of  inducing 
others  to  give  fair,  favorable,  or  undivided  attention  to 
propositions.}  We  have  now  the  satisfaction  of  kno"v\'ing 
that  all  we  nave  learned  about  interest  and  attention 
will  serve  us  in  solving  this  master  problem  of  the  art  of 
public  speech. 

If  some  readers  cannot  accept  this  theory  at  once  because  of  precon- 
ceptions, this  fact  need  not  trouble  them  in  following  the  rest  of 
this  discussion;  for  surely  all  must  assent  to  the  high  importance  in 
persuasion  of  winning  favorable  attention.  The  theory,  however, 
rests  upon  the  best  of  authorities,  and  I  am  not  aware  that  any  authority 
qualifies  it  in  any  way  that  affects  its  practical  application  to  our  work. 

There  is  a  conventional  theory  of  persuasion,  so  interwoven  with  the 
literature  of  this  subject  that  we  should  note  it  briefly  before  proceeding. 
This  theory  is  based  upon  the  conception,  not  now  in  favor,  that  our 
minds  are  divided  into  three  parts,  intellect,  emotion,  will.  To  persuade, 
we  are  told,  one  must  satisfy,  or  overpower,  the  intellect;  then  arouse 
the  emotion,  which  in  turn  will  move  the  will.  "We  first  know,  then 
feel,  then  act,"  says  a  text  on  argumentation.  "Emotion  is  conditioned 
on  apprehension,  volition  on  emotion,  action  on  volition."  This  theory 
is  artificial  and  leads  to  certain  errors  in  practice  which  we  shall  note 
further  on ;  but  still  it  may  be  well  enough  harmonized  with  the  theory 
we  shall  work  with:     To  satisfy  the  intellect  is  to  bring  to  attention 

^Pillsbury,  Attention,  p.  163;  James,  Briefer  Course,  p.  451,  Talks  to 
Teachers,  187. 

2"To  produce  a  given  act  in  any  person  thus  commonly  implies  the 
arousal  of  the  mental  state  which  has  that  act  as  its  sequent,  and  also 
the  suppression  of  conflicting  or  competing  mental  states."  Thorndike, 
Elements  of  Psychology,  p.  286. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  257 

reasons  for  the  desired  conduct,  and  to  remove  objections  from  attention; 
and  arousal  of  emotion  in  regard  to  an  action  is  a  sure  way  to  win  atten- 
tion to  it. 

Emotion  and  Persuasion.  Persuasion  is  sometimes 
spoken  of  as  altogether  a  matter  of  "appealing  to  emo- 
tion." The  phrase  proves  misleading.  It  is  taken  by 
some  to  refer  to  pathos  only,  or  to  an  arousal  of  the  more 
violent  feelings;  or  at  best  as  an  appeal  to  some  large 
emotion,  such  as  patriotism.  Again,  the  word  appeal  is 
misunderstood  as  meaning  direct,  fervid  exhortation 
only.  It  is  true  that  persuasion  is  quite  largely  con- 
cerned with  emotion.  In  persuasion  we  wish  to  allay 
such  emotions  as  will  keep  hostility  to  the  proposed 
action  in  mind,  such  as  dislike  for  the  means  or  the  end, 
or  desire  for  other  ends;  and  we  wish  to  awaken  such 
emotions  as  will  win  for  the  proposed  action  favorable 
attention.  It  will  be  seen  as  we  proceed  that  there  are 
means  to  this  end  which  are  not  suggested  by  the  phrase, 
''appealing  to  emotion." 

Motives.  I  The  most  evident  way  in  which  we  arouse 
emotion  to  fix  attention  is  by  awakening  desire  for  the 
end  sought;  and  a  desire  when  effective  we  call  a  motive.! 
"Desire  notoriously  tends  to  maintain  the  idea  of  its 
object  or  end  at  the  focus  of  consciousness;  our  thought 
keeps  flying  back  to  dwell  on  that  which  we  strongly 
desire,  in  spite  of  our  best  efforts  to  banish  the  idea  of  it 
from  our  minds. "^ 

The  relation  of 'the  word  motive  to  motion  and  emotion  is  apparent 
enough.  An  emotion  which  moves  to  action. is  a  motive,  though  not 
all  motives  are  emotions.^  There  is  no  necessity  for  the  term  motive 
in  our  discussion,  but  we  will  use  it  since  it  is  so  well  fixed  in  common 
speech. 

Incitement,  inducement,  impulse  are  among  the  proper  synonyms  of 
motive;    but  we  also  use  reason,  though  one's  motive  may  be  highly 

^Dewey,  Psychology,  366.         2]\/[cDougall,  Social  Psychology,  p.  241. 
'Thorndike,  Elements  of  Psychology,  p.  89. 


258  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

unreasonable.     The  usage  probably  arises  from  the  fact  that  motives, 
or  emotions,  stand  as  the  ftiajor  premises  in  persuasive  arguments;    as. 
You  wish  to  gain  money, 
This  investment  will  bring  you  money; 
Therefore,  make  the  investment. 

To  enter  iii)on  anj^  elaborate  analysis  of  human  motives 
is  unnecessary  here.  Aristotle  analyzes^  those  emotions 
he  considers  of  greatest  importance  to  the  speaker:  (1) 
anger  and  its  opposite,  mildness;  (2)  love  and  hatred; 
(3)  fear  and  boldness;  (4)  compassion,  envy,  and  emula- 
tion; (5)  shame  and  shamelessness ;  (6)  gratitude;  (7) 
righteous  indignation.  This  list  is,  of  course,  incomplete, 
unless  each  term  be  greatly  expanded.  The  single 
term  love  covers  many  emotions,  as  love  of  home,  of 
friends,  of  money,  of  country.  ^Ye  must  add,  or  evolve 
from  the  terms  given,  such  feehngs  as  ambition  and  love 
of  praise.  A  very  simple  but  suggestive  I  classification  of 
motives  is  that  of  Newcomer,^  who  treats  of  persuasion 
(1)  by  appeal  to  personal  interest,  (2)  by  appeal  to  social 
duty,  and  (3)  by  appeal  to  religious  duty]  Phillips's 
classification  of  impelling  motives^  has  already  been 
adapted  to  our  treatment  of  interest:  self-preservation, 
property,  power,  reputation,  affections,  sentiments  and 
tastes.  Most  of  these  terms  are  self-explanatory.  Under 
sentiments  are  placed  honor,  patriotism,  and  in  general 
the  desire  to  do  whatever  is  right,  fair,  and  noble.  Tastes 
include  love  of  music,  of  drama,  and  of  pleasures  gen 
erally. 

Only  very  exceptional  circumstances,  if  any,  justify 
appealing  to  unworthy  motives,  but  any  proper  motive 
which  is  operative  with  the  audience,  may  be  appealed  to. 
Some  hard  questions  arise.  Would  you  play  upon  a 
man's  avarice  to  save  him  from  drunkenness.'^  His  hatred 

^  ^Rheforic,  Book  II,  Chapters  2-11.  An  elaborate  analysis  of  emo- 
tions will  be  found  in  Titchener's  Primer  of  Psi/chologj/,  pp.  151,  154!, 
234,  236.    ^English  Composition,  p.  171.        '^Effective  Speaking,  p.  48. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  259 

of  a  rival?  May  one  ever  properly  appeal  to  a  prejudice? 
It  is  very  difficult  to  decide  what  beliefs  and  feelings  are 
prejudices.  Certainly  some  of  our  best  sentiments  are 
due  to  inheritance  rather  than  to  reason;  as  our  sense  of 
honor.  One  may  have  a  prejudice,  an  "unreasoning 
predilection,"  for  the  right  course  as  well  as  for  the  wrong. 
You  believe  that  a  certain  church  or  sect  is  based  upon 
superstition;  perhaps  you  believe  it  an  evil  institution. 
Would  you  hesitate  to  rally  the  adherents  of  that  church 
to  support  a  good  cause  by  pointing  out  that  the  interests 
of  their  church  are  involved?  Suppose  you  were  dealing 
vnih.  a  mob  bent  on  murder;  would  you  play  on  their 
desire  for  plunder  in  another  direction?  This,  like  other 
questions  of  platform  ethics,  does  not  differ  essentially 
from  the  problems  of  our  ever^^day  intercourse.  Each 
case  must  be  decided  on  its  merits.  I  do  not  mean  to 
suggest  any  moral  looseness  in  dealing  with  these  questions. 
They  should  be  treated  seriously;  but  when  we  consider 
their  com.plexity  and  how  the  noblest  motives  have  moved 
men  to  the  foulest  deeds,  we  hesitate  to  be  dogmatic. 
Professor  Baker  has  spoken  wisely  upon  motives:^ 
"Choose  the  highest  motive  to  which  you  think  your 
audience  will  respond.  If  a  speaker  feels  it  necessary  to 
appeal  to  motives  not  of  the  highest  grades  he  should  see 
to  it  that  before  he  closes  lie  makes  them  lead  into  higher 
motives."  Professor  Baker  illustrates  with  Beecher's 
Speech  at  Liverpool,  in  which  the  orator  during  our  Civil 
War  was  struggling  with  a  very  hostile  audience  of  English- 
men. He  argued  that  if  slavery  were  abolished  in  the 
South,  England  would  find  a  better  market  there  for  her 
goods,  but  "he  connected  this  appeal  with  the  far  higher 
motives  of  mere  justice  and  the  good  of  humanity.  .  .  . 
W^hat  gives  its  significance  to  [this]  suggestion.  .  .  is 
that  few  men  are  willing  to  admit  that  they  have  acted 
from  motives  considered  low  or  mean.  Even  if  they 
suspect  this  to  be  the  case,  they  endeavor  to  convince 

^Principles  of  Argumentation,  p.  321, 


260  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

themselves  that  it  is  not  true.  In  an  audience  each  man 
knows  tliose  about  him  see  what  mo\es  him  in  the  speak- 
er's words  and  therefore  he  yields  most  readily  to  a  motive 
which  he  knows  is  generally  commended — religious 
rfeelings,  charity,  devotion  to  one's  country,  etc.  .  .  . 
feince,  then,  men  yield  more  willingly  to  mptives^nerally 
commended,  and  since  unanimity  of  action  is  more  easily 
gained  when  the  highest  motives  are  addressed,^  this 
corollary'  to  the  suggestion  last  made  may  be  formulated: 
The  larger  the  audience,  the  higher  the  motives  to  which: 
an  appeal  may  be  made.'! 

^Vhile  motives  are  frequently  mixed,  we  need  not 
cynically  attribute  right  actions  to  selfishness,  ambition 
or  fear  of  public  opinion.  The  a^'erage  man  really  intends 
to  do  the  right  thing  once  his  sense  of  responsibility  is 
aroused,  \^"hile  m.ost  of  us  let  down  a  bit  when  not  under 
observation,  yet  we  have  certain  principles  of  conduct,  duty, 
honesty,  honor,  courage  and  generosity,  in  accordance  with 
which  we  must  live  if  we  are  to  retain  our  self-respect. 

The  New  York  Times'^  quotes  "a  shrewd  public  man  in  this  city  [who] 
was,  on  one  occasion,  discussing  the  probable  future  of  David  B.  Hill, 
then  seemingly  in  command  of  the  politics  of  this  state: 

"  'Mr.  Hill's  success  may  be  called  self-limiting,  and  I  think  the  limit 
is  approaching.  His  conception  of  politics  has  two  serious  defects. 
He  appeals  chiefly  to  the  [self-]interest  of  his  associates  and  subordi- 
nates, and  sooner  or  later,  he  cannot  satisfy  them,  for  there  is  not  enough 
profit  to  go  around.  And  he  does  not  understand  the  tremendous 
influence  of  a  moral  issue  on  public  sentiment.'  " 

A  story  ex-President  Taft  tells  of  himself  suggests  the  attitude  of  the 
average  man  toward  duty  when  plainly  seen.  He  says^  that  when 
Secretary  of  "War  Root  asked  him  to  go  out  as  governor  of  the  Philip- 
pines, the  proposal  ran  counter  to  both  his  tastes  and  his  ambitions,  and 
be  refused.  But  when  Mr.  Root  put  it  to  him  squarely  that  he  had  had 
a  series  of  pleasant  government  positions  and  that  now  his  country 
needed  him  for  a  more  arduous  duty,  he  yielded. 

The  moral  is :  Do  not  fear  to  appeal  to  the  best  senti- 
ments in  your  hearers.     Assume  they  are  better  rather 

^ April  7,  1914.  ^\n  &  speech  at  the  commencement  dinner  of  the 
alumni  of  Hamilton  College  in  1913. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  261 

than  worse  than  they  are.  They  may  respond  to  lower 
motives,  but  may  also  gladly  rise  to  a  higher  plane. 

/  Fairness.  One  of  the  appeals  to  which  men  are  ashamed 
not  to  respond,  is  that  for  fair  play.  Very  few  mil  rest 
easy  under  the  imputation  of  unfairness.  The  average 
man  who  is  really  convinced  that  denial  of  the  ballot 
results  in  injustice  to  women,  will  vote  for  women's 
suffrage.  The  appeal  to  the  sense  of  fairness  is  of  special 
importance  in  handling  hostile  audiences.  Beecher  at 
Liverpool,  facing  an  audience  partly  composed  of  roughs 
present  for  the  express  purpose  of  breaking  up  the  meeting, 
exclaimed  early  in  his  speech,  "All  I  ask  is  simply  fair 
play!"  Applause  followed  and  for  several  minutes  the 
interruptions  ceased. 

A  Scotch  friend  of  mine  went  out  to  preach,  some  twenty  years  ago, 
on  one  of  Chicago's  worst  corners,  which  had  four  saloons  and  was  in 
the  center  of  the  district  where  lived  the  anarchists  who  threw  the 
fatal  bomb  at  the  Haymarket  riot.  The  crowd,  which  believed  him  sent 
by  the  hated  capitalists,  pushed  him  off  the  sidewalk,  spit  upon  him 
and  badgered  him  till  preaching  was  impossible.  "Is  not  this  America?" 
he  shouted,  "shall  I  not  have  free  speech?"  "Yes,"  they  replied,  "and 
so  shall  we!"  "But  you  give  me  no  chance;  give  me  five  minutes." 
The  crowd  voted  that  fair  and  listened. 

\  Desire  for  Approval  and  Admiration.  While  I  have 
emphasized  self-respect,  there  is  no  doubt  that  men  are 
strongly  drawn  by  the  chance  to  impress  their  fellows  with 
their  prowess  or  importance;  and  this  shows  itself  in 
large  and  in  petty  ways.  Men  will  undertake  great* 
enterprises,  and  undergo  great  hardships  and  sacrifices 
for  the  sake  of  reputation,  money  and  power.  Some  men 
will  be  won  to  a  cause  for  which  in  the  beginning  they  care 
nothing,  by  being  given  a  chance  to  display  their  powers 
in  working  for  it.  Others  may  be  won  from  indifference 
to  active  support  by  some  small  concession  which  increases 
their  sense  of  self-importance,  such  as  a  seat  on  a  plat- 
form or  appointment  as  usher.     A  badge  will  accomplish 


2G2  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

wonders.  Others  whom  we  feel  less  petty,  will  risk  their 
lives  for  little  iron  crosses.  "You  call  these  toys," 
Napoleon  is  reported  to  have  said  to  one  who  ridiculed 
the  insignia  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  "let  me  tell  you  that 
men  are  ruled  by  toys!"  Pride  in  certain  manifestations 
we  call  vanity,  and  again  we  speak  of  a  "decent  respect 
for  the  opinions  of  others";  but  in  any  case  we  know  that 
we  are  much  influenced  by  the  desire  for  the  approval 
and  admiration  of  our  fellows. 

Rivalry.  Very  close  to  the  preceding  is  the  desire  to 
emulate,  to  equal  or  to  surpass  others.  We  desire  prop- 
erty, power  and  reputation  less  for  themselves  than  for 
the  relative  position  they  give  us.  This  desire  to  emulate, 
also,  takes  the  most  petty  and  the  most  noble  forms, 
from  the  desire  to  have  a  better  front  gate  than  one's 
neighbors  to  the  desire  to  have  one's  town  cleaner  than  a 
neighboring  town,  from  competition  in  eating  beefsteak 
to  competition  in  acts  of  courage  and  sacrifice.  This 
motive  is  much  relied  upon  by  those  who  wish  to  arouse 
either  individuals  or  communities.  Such  and  such  a 
town  has  a  paid  fire  department,  twenty  miles  of  paved 
streets,  playgrounds:  why  cannot  this  town,  with  its 
higher  grade  of  citizens,  do  as  well  or  better .f*  So  and  so 
of  your  class  has  subscribed  $1,000  to  the  alumni  fund: 
cannot  you  do  as  well.'^  From  our  earliest  days  we  are 
seeking  to  do  as  some  admired  person  does,  or  better  than 
some  one  we  dislike  or  envy.  Contrast  must  be  made, 
•of  course,  with  some  person,  institution  or  community 
one's  hearers  wish  to  emulate,  else  one  may  get  an  answer 
like  that  of  a  small  boy  to  his  mother  when  she  points  out 
a  model  of  decorum,  "Who  cares  what  that  sissy  does.^" 
I  Fear.  We  have  emphasized  the  things  men  desire, 
and  this  is  ordinarily  the  better  note  to  strike;  but  we 
must  not  forget  that  men  still  live  much  under  the 
dominion  of  fear.  If  They  are  held  back  from  the  step  we 


INTLUENCING  CONDUCT  263 

urge,  not  alone  by  dislike  for  it,  or  opposing  desires,  or 
inertia;  but  also  by  dread  of  unpleasant  consequences, 
perhaps  of  public  disapproval  of  a  departure  from  the 
accustomed  path.  Fears  must  be  driven  from  mind  by 
a  confident  presentation  of  the  pleasure,  profit,  or  honor  of 
the  course  urged.  But  when  positive  methods  prove 
inadequate,  we  may  warn  of  the  dangers  of  the  wrong  course, 
creating  a  fear  great  enough  to  dominate  attention  and 
oust  from  mind  the  fear  already  existing.     . 

Not  always  Best  to  Mention  Motives.  [It  should  not 
be  assumed  that  we  should  always  be  urging  or  appealing 
to  our  audiences  to  do  the  desired  act.  Action  may  follow 
as  a  matter  of  course  upon  knowledge  or  conviction/  Tell 
a  boy  he  is  wanted  to  pitch  a  game  of  baseball,  a  charitable 
man  that  there  is  a  suffering  family  in  the  next  block, 
or  convince  a  conscientious  man  that  a  certain  course  is 
right,  and  there  is  no  need  of  dwelling  on  motives.  The 
mind  of  the  one  addressed  supplies  all  that  is  needed, 
and  in  many  cases  his  response  is  without  conscious 
emotion,  being  an  habitual  reaction.^  Often  the  speak- 
er's task  is  only  that  of  identification;  he  shows  that  the 
proposed  course  is  profitable,  noble,  fashionable,  will  win 
votes,  give  pleasure,  and  that  is  all  that  is  needed.  If 
any  argument  at  all  is  called  for,  it  is  in  establishing  the 
fact  that  the  means  will  reach  the  end. 

To  dwell  upon  niotives  may  at  times  be  offensive. 
Men  who  take  pride  in  their  good  citizenship  may  not 
relish  being  openly  urged  to  do  their  duty  to  their  city. 
Few  of  us  like  to  be  preached  at;  many  of  the  most 
effectual  sermons  omit  the  exhortation.  The  preacher 
simply  makes  vice  ugly  and  virtue  desirable ;  or  he  makes 
plain  the  course  Vvhich  an  honest,  clean,  generous  man 
would  wish  to  follow;  and  when  he  has  brought  the  truth 

iCf.  James,  Psychology,  Vol.  II,  p.  536. 


264  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

vividly  into  his  hearer's  consciousness,  he  leaves  it  to  do 
its  work.  And  because  most  men  \\'ish  to  be  honest,  clean 
and  generous,  they  are  likely  to  respond  to  the  challenge. 

At  other  times  the  most  positive  methods  and  baldest 
appeals  to  emotion  are  in  order,  to  turn  men  from  strong 
habits  or  fascinating  leadership,  or  to  overcome  strong 
hostile  emotions.  There  are  times,  too,  when  the  appeal 
must  be  made,  but  less  openly.  Much  depends  upon  the 
character  of  the  audience  and  the  spirit  of  the  occasion. 
Much  depends,  also,  upon  the  relation  of  the  speaker  to 
his  audience.  A  young  man  would  hardly  venture  to 
exhort  an  audience  of  Civil  War  veterans  to  patriotism. 
If  he  exhorted  at  all,  he  would  exhort  the  young  men 
present  to  emulate  their  elders,  and  in  so  doing  he  might 
stimulate  the  veterans  to  live  up  to  the  reputation  given 
them. 

When  familiar  motives  must  be  emphasized,  care 
should  be  taken  to  avoid  implying  moral  delinquency 
on  the  part  of  the  audience,  unless  it  be  deliberately 
determined  that  severity  is  in  order.  Care  should  be 
taken  also  to  avoid  boring  by  trite  presentation  of  familiar 
motives;  especially  if  the  motive  dwelt  upon  be  duty. 
Often  one's  hearers  have  heard  certain  standard  argu- 
ments and  pleas  till  they  slip  off  attention  "like  water 
from  a  duck's  back."  A  new  setting  is  needed;  new  facts 
and  new  illustrations.  Pleas  are  often  reinforced  by 
stories  of  heroism  from  the  past,  and  some  of  these  are 
badly  overworked;  yet  some  which  gather  about  them- 
selves strong  emotions  can  be  told  with  telling  persuasive 
effect.  Religious  pleas  are  often  founded  upon  v'wnd 
recitals  of  the  Exodus  or  of  the  Crucifixion. 

L  Appealing  for  Sympathy.  We  read  that  the  ancients 
ould  endure  the  most  direct  assaults  upon  their  feelings. 
Pleaders  in  court  might  dramatically  bare  their  scars; 
and  the  young  children  of  a  defendant  might  be  exhibited 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  265 

with  the  open  intent  of  winning  sympathy.  These 
methods  have  not  entirely  lost  vogue,  but  they  can  rarely 
be  used  so  openly  with  good  effect.  The  modern  man, 
and  especially  the  American  and  the  Englishman,  though 
emotional  enough,  dislikes  direct  appeals  to  his  feelings. 
He  may  hang  his  head  or  he  may  jeer;  butihe  is  in  all 
cases  likely  to  resist  when  he  is  conscious  that  an  assault 
upon  his  feelings  is  being  made.  '  Much  depends,  naturally, 
upon  the  situation,  and  much  may  be  forgiven  to  a  speaker 
evidently  sincere;  but  in  most  cases  when  one  feels  the 
need  of  awakening  sympathy  he  had  best  take  the  less 
direct  method;  that  is,  depend  upon  the  presentation 
of  the  case  rather  than  upon  pleas,  either  in  words  or 
tones. 

I  Sense  of  Responsibility.  I  It  is  often  very  difficult  to 
bring  Eorne  to  an  audience  the  feeling  that  they  are  per- 
sonally responsible  for  the  matter  in  hand.  The  preacher 
who  levels  a  sermon  at  the  head  of  an  erring  deacon  is 
congratulated  by  that  very  deacon,  who  chuckles  "to 
think  how  Brother  Smith  got  scored  this  morning." 
The  preacher  is  continually  finding  it  necessary  to  say, 
*Tf  the  coat  fits  you,  put  it  on."  The  citizen  who  attacks 
a  municipal  abuse  finds  dozens  to  "sympathize"  and  say, 
"Yes,  yes,  why  doesn't  somebody  attend  to  that.^^"  for 
one  to  step  forward  and  say,  "I  have  come  to  help." 
Very  likely  the  priest  and  the  Levite  who  passed  the 
injured  man  by,  said,  "Too  bad!  Somebody  should  care 
for  him,  and  clean  out  thos^e  bandits  too ;  but  my  business 
in  Jericho  won't  wait."  |We  can  readily  see  that  the 
speaker's  task  is  to  get  people  to  face  their  obligation 
squarely,  to  give  it  attention  when  other  matters  of 
business  and  pleasure  are  taking  their  minds.  /He  must 
make  them  see  that  the  public  nuisance,  the  grafting 
city  administration,  the  violation  of  tenement-house  laws, 
the  endangered  honor  of  the  university,  are  the  personal 


266  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

responsibilit3%  not  only  of  all  of  his  hearers,  but  of  each 
of  them;  not  something  that  "they"  should  attend  to, 
but  something  that  unofficial  John  Smith  should  attend  to. 
The  most  obvious  thing  to  do  is  to  declare  bluntly  the 
individual  responsibility  of  each  one  present.  But 
audiences  are  rather  hardened  to  tliis;  we  are  all  told  of 
innumerable  imperative  duties  as  men  and  citizens,  as 
members  of  this  body  and  that.  At  least  a  new  and  inter- 
esting way  of  bringing  home  the  responsibility  is  needed, 
especially  when  one's  hearers  are  not  yet  aroused  over 
the  situation.  Preachers,  who  have  to  make  the  same 
appeals  year  after  year,  are  driven  to  invent  expedients. 
The  following  clipped  from  a  church  announcement  sheet, 
is  interesting : 

"How  much  shall  I  give  to  benevolences? — being  a  little  argument 
with  myself. 

"I  can  refuse  to  give  anything,  thus  saying  'Stop  all  Missionary 
Effort;  Stop  all  building  of  frontier  Churches  and  Bible  Schools;  Stop 
all  Ministerial  Education;  Stop  all  aid  given  to  aged  ministers.'     Or 

"I  can  give  less  than  heretofore,  saying  'Reduce  the  activities  of  the 
Church  as  I  have  reduced  my  gifts.'     Or 

"I  can  give  the  same  amount  as  formerly,  saying  'Stand  still.  Stay 
where  you  are.     Make  no  advance.     Undertake  no  new  work.'     Or 

"I  can  increase  my  gifts  10,  20,  30,  50%  and  thus  say  to  the  Church, 
'Increase  your  activities  by  this  much.  Let  us  go  up  and  possess  the 
land  which  God  has  given  us.'     What  shall  be  my  answer?" 

I  An  important  way  of  awakening  the  sense  of  responsi- 
tnlity,  which  also  enlists  pride,  is  to  give  one's  hearers 
something  definite  to  do,  whether  that  something  be 
really  important  work  in  a  position  of  trust,  or  merely 
signing  a  petition,  or  standing  up  to  be  counted.  1  Get 
them  at  least  to  commit  themseh^es  publicly  to  your  Cause 
so  that  the  public  will  expect  action  from  them.  Get  as 
many  as  feasible  serving  on  committees  to  do  specific 
tasks  and  report  upon  them.  Men  of  real  efficiency  may 
be  interested  in  a  cause  just  by  the  chance  to  do  work  well; 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  267 

they  like  to  make  things  go.  Other  men  may  be^enlisted 
by  being  made  to  feel  that  they  are  needed,  that  "doing 
their  bit,"  as  the  English  say,  is  of  real  importance. 

In  taking  a  broad  view  of  persuasion,  we  may  well  note  that  an  aroused 
sense  of  responsibility  may  change  a  reckless  radical  into  a  conservative, 
or  may  change  a  conservative  into  a  progressive.  Macaulay  declares 
that  Whigs  in  office  become  Tories.  Make  your  hearers  realize  that  they 
are  personally  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  the  business  in  hand,  and 
they  may  cease  to  shout  for  violent  action.  Mr.  George  hit  upon  his 
famous  plan  for  the  "Junior  Republic"  by  discovering  that  he  could 
secure  the  order  he  had  failed  to  command  among  his  "fresh  air"  boys, 
by  making  the  ring-leader  in  disorder  chief  of  police.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  responsibility  of  dealing  with  a  situation  may  break  down  a  man's 
conservatism,  because  it  compels  him  to  face  conditions  he  has  refused 
to  acknowledge. 

[Compelling  People  to  Face  the  Truth. |  It  is  important 
to  prevent  people  from  deceiving  themselves  with  ex- 
cuses. Professor  James,  in  discussing  attention  and  will,^ 
puts  stress  upon  the  difficulty  we  often  have  in  keeping 
attention  upon  the  right  action,  seeing  clearly  that  a  duty 
is  a  duty  and  that  an  evil  action  is  an  evil  action.  "What 
is  hard,"  he  says,  "is  facing  an  idea  as  real."  The  drift 
of  attention  is  all  away  from  the  right  idea,  and  w^e  must 
strain  attention  to  it  "until  at  last  it  grows,  so  as  to 
maintain  itself  before  the  mind  with  ease.  This  strain 
of  the  attention  is  the  fundamental  act  of  mll."^  It 
is  sometimes  the  speaker's  business  to  compel  his  aud- 
ience to  face  unpleasant  facts  as  real,  and  in  particular 
to  prevent  their  putting  them  away  by  calling  them  by 
other  names. 

3"How  many  excuses  does  the  drunkard  find  when  each  new  tempta- 
tion comes!  It  is  a  new  brand  of  liquor  which  the  interests  of  intellectual 
culture  in  such  matters  obliges  him  to  test;  moreover  it  is  poured  out  and 
it  is  a  sin  to  waste  it;  also  others  are  drinking  and  it  would  be  churlish- 
ness to  refuse.     Or  it  is  but  to  enable  him  to  sleep,  or  just  to  get  through 

^Briefer  Courses,  p.  451.         ^Idem,  p.  452. 
3Idem,  p.  453.     Cf.  Talks  to  Teachers,  p.  188 


268  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

this  job  of  work;  or  it  isn't  drinking,  it  is  because  he  feels  so  cold;  or  it 
is  Christmas  day;  or  it  is  a  means  of  stimulating  him  to  make  a  more 
powerful  resolution  in  favor  of  abstinence  than  any  he  has  hitherto  made; 
or  it  is  just  this  once,  and  once  doesn't  count,  etc.,  etc.,  ad  libitum — 
it  is,  in  fact,  anything  you  like  except  being  a  drunkard.  That  is  the  con- 
ception that  will  not  stay  before  the  poor  soul's  attention.     But  if  he 

once  gets  able  to  pick  out  that  way  of  conceiving if  through 

thick  and  thin  he  holds  to  it  that  this  is  being  a  drunkard  and  is  nothing 

else,  he  is  not  likely  to  remain  one  long Everywhere,  then, 

the  function  of  the  effort  is  the  same:  to  keep  affirming  and  adopting  a 
thought  which  if  left  to  itself  would  slip  away." 

The  part  of  the  persuader  in  helping  or  compelUng 
others  to  accept  and  stick  to  the  right  conception,  labeled 
with  the  right  name,  is  plain  enough.  He  should  not 
permit  his  hearers  to  call  rudeness  or  destructiveness  fun, 
penuriousness  caring  for  one's  own  household,  indolence 
weariness  or  illness,  snobbishness  refinement,  lies  excuses, 
bigotry  religion,  or  to  suffer  from  the  two  delusions  from 
which  an  Oxford  don  says  his  little  world  suffers, — 
having  no  opinions  and  calling  it  balanced  mind,  and 
expressing  no  opinions  and  calling  it  moderation. 

Dr.  Wiley  tells  a  story  of  a  member  of  a  cer  am  Middle  West  legisla- 
tm-e  who  sought  an  appropriation  of  $100,000  fo  the  protection  of  public 
health;  but  could  secure  only  $5,000.  One  morning  he  put  upon  the 
desk  of  each  legislator  before  the  opening  of  the  session,  a  fable  which 
ran  something  like  this:  A  sick  mother  with  a  baby  is  told  by  a  physician 
that  she  has  tuberculosis  and  that  she  should  seek  a  higher  altitude. 
Lack  of  means  prevents  her  going.  She  applies  to  the  state  government 
and  is  told  that  not  a  dollar  is  available  to  save  the  mother  and  her  child 
from  death.  At  the  same  time  a  farmer  observes  that  one  of  his  hogs 
has  cholera  symptoms.  He  sends  a  telegram,  collect,  to  the  government. 
The  inspector  comes  next  day,  treats  the  hog  with  serum  and  cures  it. 
Moral:  Be  a  hog!  The  $100,000  appropriation  was  promptly  granted. 
The  legislators  saw  from  this  vivid  presentation  of  the  case  that  what 
they  had  variously  called  economy,  common-sense,  business  is  business, 
etc.,  was  really  putting  the  hog  above  the  child. 

Faith.  At  times  the  most  difficult  part  of  persuading 
those  already  convinced  of  the  desirability  of  a  course  of 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  269 

conduct,  is  to  make  them  believe  and  feel  that  it  is  worth 

while  to  try,  and  that  success  is  possible.     Other  voices 

.  may  be  saying,    "What's   the  use?     You  can't   do  it." 

J  Faith  exhibited  by  the  speaker  himself  is  an  important 

^  element  in  overcoming  hopelessness  ;|  but  there  is  room 

for  argument  for  the  probability  of  success,  for  citing 

examples  of  how  others  have  succeeded,  and  for  painting 

the  end  as  so  desirable  that  it  will  seem  worth  a  supreme 

effort. 

Manner  of  Presenting  the  Proposal.  It  is  plain  enough 
that  in  our  effort  to  secure  the  most  direct  and  exclusive 
attention  to  a  proposition,  the  method  of  presentation 
is  of  high  importance.  We  can  make  use,  therefore,  of 
all  that  we  have  learned  or  can  learn  of  clearness  and  force, 
of  all  that  makes  for  sustained  attention.  Variety, 
unity,  coherence  and  emphasis  are  never  m.ore  important 
than  in  persuasion.  A  few  special  applications  of  what 
was  said  in  Chapter  X  are  needed  here. 

Review  of  Accepted  Arguments.  We  are  considering 
persuasion  in  those  cases  in  which  our  conclusions  are 
already  assented  to  by  our  hearers.  Even  in  such  cases 
it  is  often  worth  while  to  review  the  arguments  for  the 
proposed  action,  and  thus  change  a  lightly  held  belief, 
liable  at  any  time  to  be  routed,  into  a  firm  convic- 
tion. At  another  time  we  may  find  argument  unwise; 
for  beliefs  accepted  from  fathers  and  teachers,  though 
unreasoned,  may  be  held  with  great  tenacity,  and  the  only 
effect  of  argument  may  be  to  create  a  questioning  state 
of  mind.  If  quick  action  is  desired,  the  argumenta- 
tive state  of  mind  is  undesirable.  Some  successful  leaders 
never  argue;  only  summon  and  command.  Other  great 
leaders,  like  Lincoln,  wish  their  followers  to  understand 
why  they  follow,  and  so  to  follow  more  intelligently. 

If  argument  is  used,  it  should  be  followed  by  discourse 
of  a  more  impulsive  character.     Also,  care  should  be  taken 


270  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

not  to  bore  your  hearers  by  arguments  in  stale  form, 
or  to  provoke  resentment  by  arguing  as  if  they  were 
unbeUevers.  The  air  of  recaUing  and  reviewing  is  better 
than  that  of,  presenting  something  new. 
4  Repetition  J  AYe  are  likely  to  do  almost  anything  if 
we  are  urged  often  enough,  provided  we  are  not  driven 
into  hostility  by  tactless  urging.  Napoleon  is  said  to 
have  declared,  "that  there  is  only  one  figure  of  rhetoric 
of  serious  importance,  namely,  repetition."  Reiteration 
keeps  the  idea  of  an  action  before  the  mind  and  makes  it 
stick  there  The  repetition  may  occur  in  the  same  speech, 
or  in  successive  speeches.  Delenda  est  Carthago  (Car- 
thage must  be  destroyed)  thundered  the  old  Roman  Cato 
in  every  speech  he  made  for  years,  until  the  Roman 
people  took  up  the  task.  In  these  days  he  would  have 
supplemented  his  speeches,  with  articles  in  the  press. 
In  political  campaigns  candidates  go  about  repeating 
in  every  speech  their  keynotes;  such  as,  "Turn  the  rascals 
out!"  or,  "The  tariff  is  a  tax."  The  whole  corps  of 
party  speakers  may  repeat  the  phrase;  and  though 
opponents  may  ridicule  it  as  a  parrot  cry,  the  repetition 
counts.  The  candidate  who  is  clever  enough  to  hit 
upon  phrases  which  the  papers  will  take  up  gains  greatly 
by  their  repetition.  Advertisers,  also  know  the  value  of 
multiplied  repetition   of   standard  phrases. 

But  repetition  is  not  limited  to  the  reiteration  of  set 
i:lirases.  The  set  phrase  has  the  advantage  that  there  is 
no  failure  to  identify  the  idea,  as  there  may  be  with  varied 
phraseology;  but  varied  statement  relieves  the  monotony. 
Monotony  may  also  be  relieved  by  giving  the  stock  phrases 
new  settings.  Examples  from  advertisements  will  read- 
ily occur  to  all.  Not  only  does  the  varied  setting  relieve 
monotony,  but  also  increases  the  probability  that  the 
idea  will  cling  to  mind,  for  the  more  associations  it  is 
given  the  more  likely  they  are  to  return  it  to  attention. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  271 

Amplification.  The  idea  of  an  action  should  not  be 
repeated  merely,  but  also  developed.     Says  Genung:^ 

*'For  purposes  of  persuasion  thoughts  should  be  pre- 
sented copiously.  It  is  a  case  where  repetition  of  thoughts 
in  many  aspects  and  phases,  and  body  of  amplification 
secured  by  detail  and  illustration,  are  of  special  service. 
For  the  hearer's  mind  has  not  merely  to  catch  the  thought; 
he  needs  to  be  saturated  wdth  it,  so  that  he  may  carry  it 
with  him  as  an  impulse  and  working  consciousness." 

Under  Sustaining  Attention  in  Chapter  X  are  given 
detailed  suggestions  in  regard  to  amplification.  We  may 
note  here  the  fact  that/ the  more  frequently  the  idea  of  an 
action  and  the  reasons  for  it  are  brought  to  attention, 
and  the  longer  they  are  held  before  attention,  the  more 
likely  they  are  to  stick  in  memory  and  accomplish  their 
purpose./  I  But  there  must  be  vividness  as  well  as  fre- 
quency or  presentation.  We  should  not  get  the  notion 
that  merely  harping  upon  an  idea  is  effective.  Moreover, 
elaboration  should  be  given  only  to  matters  which  deserve 
it,  and  a  speaker  should  be  keen  to  detect  when  his  audi- 
ence has  had  enough.  As  an  example  of  copious  treatment 
by  repetition  and  amplification,  of  an  idea  that  needed 
enforcement,  we  may  take  the  following  from  Burke's 
Conciliation  with  the  Colonies : 

'The  point  with  me  is,  not  whether  you  have  a  right  to  render  your 
people  miserable,  but  whether  it  is  not  your  interest  to  make  them  happy. 
It  is  not  what  a  lawyer  tells  me  I  viay  do,  but  what  humanity,  reason  and 
justice  tell  me  I  ought  to  do.  Is  a  politic  act  the  worse  for  being  a  gener- 
ous one?  Is  no  concession  proper  but  that  which  is  made  from  your 
want  of  right  to  keep  what  you  grant?  Or  does  it  lessen  the  grace  or 
dignity  of  relaxing  in  the  exercise  of  an  odious  claim  because  you  have 
your  evidence  room  full  of  titles,  and  your  magazines  stuffed  with  arms 
to  enforce  them?  What  signify  all  those  titles,  and  all  those  arms?  Of 
what  avail  are  they,  when  the  reason  of  the  thing  tells  me  that  the 
assertion  of  my  title  is  the  loss  of  my  suit,  and  that  I  could  do  nothing 
but  wound  myseK  by  the  use  of  my  own  weapons? 


Working  Principles  of  Rhetoric,  p.  653. 


272  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

"Such  is  steadfastly  my  opinion  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  keeping 
up  the  concord  of  this  empire  by  a  unity  of  spirit,  though  in  a  diversity 
of  operations,  that  if  I  were  sure  the  colonists  had.  at  their  leaving  this 
country,  scaled  a  regular  compact  of  servitude,  that  they  had  solemnly 
abjured  all  the  rights  of  citizens,  that  they  had  made  a  vow  to  renounce 
all  ideas  of  liberty  for  them  and  their  posterity  to  all  generations;  yet 
I  should  hold  myself  obliged  to  conform  to  the  temper  I  found  univer- 
sally prevalent  in  my  own  day,  and  to  govern  two  millions  of  men, 
impatient  of  servitude,  on  the  principles  of  freedom.  I  am  not  determin- 
ing a  point  of  law;  I  am  restoring  tranquility;  and  the  general  character 
and  situation  of  a  people  must  determine  what  sort  of  government  is 
fitted  for  them.     That  point  nothing  else  can  or  ought  to  determine." 

Compare  the  speeches  of  Brutus  and  Antony,  in  Julius  Caesar,  in 
regard  to  repetition  and  amplification,  and  also  goncreteness. 

I  Concrete  and  Specific  Expression,  j  It  is  of  high  im- 
portance to  persuasion  that  |  abstractions  should  become 
to  the  audience  reaUties.  Abstractions  are  cold,  removed 
from  emotion,  which  belongs  to  things,  experiences  and 
persons.  Our  presentation  must  come  into  the  experience 
of  our  hearers  and  make  our  cause  real,  tangible  and  per- 
sonal to  them.  Says  President  Lowell:^  "The  mass  of 
mankind  has  more  sympathy  yviih  the  fortunes  of  an 
individual  than  with  the  fate  of  principles."  Our  cause 
must,  of  course,  to  revert  to  Dewey's  definitions  of 
concrete,  be  made  familiar  to  our  audience  and  be  made 
to  appear  practical. 

Our  presentation  should  be  not  only  concrete,  but  also 
specific.  "Emotion,"  says  Foster,^  "is  concerned  ^^'ith 
particulars  rather  than  "^ith  generals."  We  talk  of  love 
for  mankind,  but  our  genuine  feeling  is  for  individuals. 
You  may  draw  money  from  the  habitually  charitable 
for  the  suffering  children  of  a  city;  but  you  can  draw 
much  more  if  you  will  describe  one  little  tot  suffering 
in  a  tenement  and  show  us  the  farm  you  wish  to  take 
him  to.     The  one  case  is  more  tangible,  easier  to  focus 

^Public  Opinion  and  Popular  Government,  p.  53. 
^Exposition  and  Argument,  p.  146. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  273 

upon;  it  seems  more  possible  for  one  unimportant  person 
to  deal  with  it.  To  urge  me  to  do  my  political  duties 
is  not  nearly  so  effective  as  to  urge  me  to  go  to  the  pri- 
maries next  Tuesday  night  and  work  for  Thomas  Jones 
for  mayor.  To  ask  a  friend  to  visit  you  is  less  effective 
than  to  ask  him  to  come  next  Wednesday.  ]\Ien  do  not 
fight  for  rights,  but  for  a  right.  An  effective  battle  cry 
names  a  specific  goal:  "On  to  Richmond!"  "On  to 
Paris!" 

I  cannot  agree  with  Shiirter,  however,  that  "generalizations  have  no 
persuasive  vahie."^  We  must  often  regret  that  the  "gUttering  gener- 
ahty"  has  quite  too  much  influence  over  shallow  minds,  over  those  of 
the  "little  education"  which  has  been  called  "a  dangerous  thing,"  those 
who  "think  they  think."  Innumerable  fads,  "new"  movements,  pseudo- 
religions  and  philosophies,  have  their  vogue  through  the  too  ready  ac- 
ceptance of  generalities,  which  have  little  effect  upon  the  clear  thinking 
or  upon  the  slow-moving  uneducated  mind,  which  is  slow  to  grasp 
generalizations.  The  best  way  to  meet  these  thin  preachments  is  to 
demand  a  reduction  of  the  generalities  to  concrete,  specific  terms.  It 
should  be  noted  that  the  generalities  belong  rather  to  the  supposed 
philosophical  bases  of  these  movements  than  to  their  practical  teachings. 
These  usually  include  tangible  lines  of  conduct,  such  as  relaxation  and 
deep  breathing,  or  walking  barefoot  in  the  dew. 

As  a  rule,  the  specific  statement  is  more  persuasive 
than  the  general,  and  this  is  especially  true  with  those 
people  best  worth  winning.  A  generalization  is  most 
effective  when  it  is  a  striking  summary  of  thought  already 
in  mind./  A  short  crj^stallizing  statement  may  put  the 
thought  in  a  form  easy  to  fasten  attention  upon.  "The 
rich  are  growing  richer  and  the  poor  poorer,"  owes  its 
force  to  its  being  a  positive  statement  of  a  common  belief. 
A  sweeping  political  claim,  such  as  Mr.  Roosevelt  made 
before  the  National  Progressive  Convention  in  1912, 
"The  Democratic  and  Republican  organizations  repre- 
sent  government   of   the   needy   many   by   professional 

^Rhetoric  of  Oratory,  p.  118. 


274  PUBLIC  speaking; 

politicians  in  the  interest  of  the  rich  few,"  will  draw  great 
applause  from  an  audience  in  thorough  accord.  There  is 
a  boldness,  a  positiveness  and  an  authoritativeness  about 
such  statements,  which,  given  right  conditions,  is  effec- 
tive; but  their  effectiveness  is  limited  largely  to  the  un- 
critical, either  the  naturally  uncritical  or  those  uncritical 
because  already  won. 

Whether  one  should  come  at  once  in  a  speech  to  the 
specific  aspects  of  his  proposition,  has  to  be  decided  in 
the  light  of  conditions.  The  more  natural  order  seems  to 
be  to  state  first  the  general  ideas  and  purposes ;  but  there 
are  times  when  the  particular  suggestion  will  be  more 
welcome  than  the  general.  People  will  listen  more  readily 
to  a  particular  scheme  of  social  amelioration,  such  as  old 
age  pensions,  than  to  a  general  discussion  of  social  wrongs, 
which  may  sound  socialistic.  But  if  one  were  basing 
his  plea  upon  such  familiar  conceptions  as  justice  and 
humanity,  some  emphasis  upon  these  might  pave  the  way 
for  a  somewhat  radical  proposal. 

A  speech  by  a  young  woman  upon  Feminism  illustrated  an  advantage 
and  a  disadvantage  of  a  purely  general  treatment.  By  defending 
feminism  in  general  terms  only,  she  avoided  raising  the  objections  sure 
to  be  awakened  by  specific  statements  of  ways  in  which  some  women 
wish  "to  live  their  own  lives";  but  since  her  audience  had  but  vague  ideas 
of  feminism,  she  won  assent  to  a  vague  proposition  only  and  reall}^  gained 
no  ground.     She  had  made  only  a  good  beginning. 

(Imagination  and  Persuasioi]|.  Among  the  sayings 
attributed  to  Napoleon  is  this:  "Imagination  rules  the 
world."  "The  orator,"  says  an  Eastern  proverb,  "is  one 
who  can  change  ears  into  eyes."  We  are  already  familiar 
with  the  hold  of  imagery  upon  attention  and  its  power 
to  stir  emotions.  If  you  wish  to  induce  a  muscular 
student,  who  knows  nothing  of  the  sport,  to  join  the  foot- 
ball squad,  take  him  to  see  a  game.  If  you  would  check 
a  friend  from  dissipation,  show  him  the  results  in  human 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  275 

form.  But  if  you  cannot  bring  them  face  to  face  with  the 
objective  reahties,  then  with  word  pictures  you  must 
make  these  mental  reahties.  The  speaker  who  has  power 
to  make  his  hearers  hve  in.  the  scenes  he  portrays,  can 
niove  them  ahnost  at  will. 

Imagination  can  be  appeialed  to  in  the  use  of  illustra- 
tive matter!  The  great  preacher  Whitefield,  whose 
persuasive  power  was  so  great  that  he  made  Benjamin 
Franklin  throw  all  his  money  into  a  collection  for  a  cause 
he  did  not  approve,  once  described  a  vessel  in  peril  of  a 
storm  so  vividly,  that  when  he  cried  out,  "What  shall  we 
do?"  Si  sailor  in  the  congregation  leaped  to  his  feet  shouting, 
"For  God's  sake,  cut  the  ropes!" 

Emerson  has  emphasized  the  force  of  a  tersely  put 
image  •} 

"The  orator  must  be,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  poet.  We 
are  such  imaginative  creatures,  that  nothing  so  works  on 
the  human  mind,  barbarous  or  civilized  as  a  trope  [figure 
of  speech].  Condense  some  daily  experience  into  a  glow- 
ing symbol,  and  an  audience  is  electrified.  .  .  .  It  is 
a  wonderful  aid  to  memory,  which  carries  away  the 
image,  and  never  loses  it.  A  popular  assembly,  like  the 
House  of  Commons,  or  the  French  Chamber,  or  the 
American  Congress,  is  commanded  by  these  two  powers, — 
first  by  a  fact,  then  by  skill  of  statement.  Put  the  argu- 
ment into  a  concrete  shape,  into  an  image, — some  hard 
phrase,  round  and  solid  as  a  ball,  which  they  can  see  and 
handle  and  carry  home  with  them, — and  the  cause  is 
half  won." 

As  illustrations  we  may  take,  "Remember  the  Alamo!"  and  President 
McKinley's  question  in  regard  to  keeping  the  Philippines,  "Who  shall 
haul  down  the  flag?"  Mr.  Roosevelt  has  been  particularly  happy  in 
making  phrases  which  stick  to  memory  and  exert  an  influence;  such  as 
"muckraker"  and  "nature-fakir."  Would  not  the  excellent  cause 
called  "conservation  of  natural  resources,"  have  won  stronger  popular 
support  had  it  been  baptized  with  a  less  abstract  name?     To  what  would 

^Essay  on  Eloquence. 


276  PUBLIC  SPEAKING] 

you  attribute  the  force  of  the  phrases  "Safety  first"  and  "the  invisible 
government?" 

Do  not  suppose  that  the  power  of  imagery  lies  only  in 
magnificent  figures  and  elaborate  word-painting,  such 
as  are  found  in  the  peroration  of  Webster's  Reply  to 
Hayne,  or  in  his  reconstruction  of  the  tragedy  in  his 
argument  in  the  Captain  Joseph  White  murder  case. 
Vivid  imagery  may  be  found  in  the  simplest  speeches. 
The  student  in  my  class  who  urged  the  adoption  of  a  new 
method  of  handling  traffic  at  city  crossings  had  to  make 
vivid  to  us  conditions  as  they  are  and  as  they  would  be 
under  the  proposed  system,  and  his  success  was  in  pro- 
portion to  the  vividness  of  our  imagery. 

Images  of  Motion.  /Many  authorities  agree  that  "an 
idea  always  has  a  motor  consequence,  however  obscure. 
Whenever  a  deiSnite  idea  is  formed,  there  is  a  tendency 
toward  action."]  No  one  will  question  the  further  state- 
ment that  this  tendency  is  "most  plainly  seen  in  those 
ideas  which  suggest  some  particular  movement.  .  .  . 
A  motor  idea,  unless  restrained,  tends  to  go  out  immedi- 
ately in  definite  action."^ 

By  the  term  images  of  motion  I  wish  to  indicate  more  than  is  usually 
understood  by  motor  images,  which  refers  to  images  corresponding  to 
muscular  effort.  I  am  stirred  by  visual  images  of  a  football  game, 
mental  pictures  of  the  players  dashing  about  the  field,  and  by  sound 
images  of  the  sharp  signals  and  the  shouts  of  the  crowd,  and  by  tactual 
images  of  the  impact  of  bodies,  as  well  as  by  the  "twisting,  straining 
and  writhing  of  every  muscle,  tendon  and  joint." 

Beyond  a  doubt,  vivid  images  of  m.en  in  action,  of 
busy  teeming  hfe,  have  persuasive  force.  The  dram^atic 
recital  of,  How  we  won  the  race  at  Poughkeepsie,  brings 
the  recruits  thronging  to  the  crew  room.  The  im.pulse 
to  emulate  and  to  imitate  are  vrorking  here,  but  these  are 
not  aN^akened  to  the  same  degree  by  less  vivid  speech. 

'Halleck,  Psychology  and  Psychic  Culture,  p.  317. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  277 

The  most  potent  appeal  to  imagination  is  that  which 
Tees  your  hearer  see  himself  in  certain  situations  or  doing 
certain  actions!  This  touches  the  mainspring  of  enthusiasm 
and  ambition;  It  is  also  a  means  of  restraint,  enabling 
one  to  value  a  future  good  above  an  immediate  pleasure, 
or  to  realize  a  future  evil;  or,  again,  it  may  make  one 
realize  an  anticipated  pleasure  so  intensely  that  the 
future  evil  fades  from  view.  "Where  there  is  no  vision, 
the  people  cast  off  restraint."^ 

"No,  I  cannot  go  fishing  with  you,"  says  your  friend;  "I  have  this 
work  to  finish."  "But,"  you  persist,  "just  think  of  the  woods!  Just 
think  of  pulHng  out  those  speckled  beauties!  Remember  that  time, 
etc."  A  faraway  look  comes  into  the  enthusiast's  eyes,  and  he  leaps 
to  his  feet  with  a  "Work  be  hanged!"  In  other  words,  "I  will  not  give 
work  attention."  A  boy  persuading  his  friend  to  quit  the  woodpile  and 
come  play  ball,  makes  the  friend  see  himself  pitching  to  the  glorious  dis- 
comfiture of  the  rival  gang.  Fear  of  a  father's  wrath  must  take  the  form 
of  a  vivid  woodshed  experience  to  oust  that  picture.  The  same  boys,  vis- 
ioning  their  futures  in  day  dreams,  building  castles  in  Spain,  are  roused 
to  enthusiasm  and  ambition  as  they  see  themselves  building  bridges  over 
chasms,  piling  up  fortunes  in  business,  riding  at  the  head  of  their  troops, 
pleading  irresistibly  in  the  courts,  or  it  may  be,  helping  the  unfortunate. 

A  city  or  a  nation  may  have  its  visions  too.  The  engineer  who  can 
put  into  the  minds  of  the  city  fathers  a  vision  of  life  in  an  improved 
towTi,  may  win  a  contract  for  the  improvements;  the  leader  who  can 
make  a  people  see  itself  dominant  in  the  world,  may  inspire  them  to 
incredible  sacrifices. 

So  the  short  and  simple  prescription  is:  Make  your 
hearers  see  themselves  in  the  situation  or  doing  the  act 
you  desire.  Translate  duties  into  \'isions.  Make  that 
athletic  team  see  itseK  carried  off  the  field,  or  bringing 
home  the  laurels  of  victory  to  lay  at  Alma  Mater's  feet. 
Make  that  prison  audience  see  themselves  living  normal, 
honest,  respected  lives.  Or,  if  you  \\4sh  to  check  an  action 
or  tendency,  make  the  student  who  would  cheat  under  the 
honor  system  see  himself  ostracised. 

^Proverbs.  29:18.    Revised  version. 


278  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Such  appeals  to  the  imagination  sometimes  succeed  because  the  speaker 
omits  either  the  pleasing  or  the  displeasing  features  of  a  situation. 
One  pleading  for  declaration  of  war  might  win  his  cause  by  making 
his  hearers  glimpse  the  glory  of  an  heroic  struggle;  but  his  opponent 
might  chill  their  ardor  by  painting  a  picture  of  the  horrors  of  war.  Such 
practices  may  raise  an  evident  moral  question.  We  certainly  feel  it 
justifiable  to  fix  the  attention  of  men  upon  the  rewards  rather  than  upon 
the  hardships  of  a  worthy  enterprise,  in  order  that  they  may  draw 
courage  to  endure;  but  this  sort  of  exaggeration  has  its  moral  limits. 

frhe  superiority  of  expression  which  is  specific,  concrete 
and  imaginative,  over  abstract  and  general  presentation,. 
Hes  in  its  power  to  fix  attention  and  cling  to  memory.! 
But  we  should  not  over-emphasize  any  one  method  of 
presentation;  any  form  of  expression  which  does  fix 
attention  and  impress  memory  may  be  persuasive. 

Suggestion.  A  new  meaning  for  an  old  word  has  crept 
into  common  speech,  The  new  and  technical  meaning 
of  the  word  suggestion  is  plainly  enough  derived  from  its 
older  sense,  as  is  seen  in  the  phrase,  "Don't  suggest  it  to 
him,"  which  carries  the  implication  that  if  you  do,  he  will 
act  upon  the  suggestion.  We  have  heard  much  of  the 
evil  of  the  exploitation  of  crime  in  the  papers  and  in  mov- 
ing pictures  because  of  their  suggestion  to  the  young.  No 
definition  of  suggestion  satisfactory  for  our  purpose  has 
been  found,  and  authorities  do  not  agree  ;^  but  it  will 
suffice  to  say  that  (when  we  act  upon  a  prompting  external 
to  ourselves,  and  without  deliberation,  we  act  upon  sug- 
gestion.!   The  response  is  automatic. 

A  popular  discussion  of  suggestion  will  be  found  in  Scott's  Influencing 
Men  ill  Business.  This  book  has  the  advantages  of  being  written  for 
those  untrained  in  psychology  by  one  well  versed  in  the  science,  and  also 
of  being  written  from  the  standpoint  ©f  persuasion.  In  this  work- 
Professor  Scott  says  that  while  the  subject  of  suggestion  has  been  made 
ridiculous  by  writers  who  have  presented  it  as  the  open  sesame  to  suc- 

^See  Titchener's  Textbook,  p.  4-tO,  Scott's  Psychology  of  Advertising, 
p.  80  and  McDougall.  Social  Psychology,  p.  97. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  279 

cess,  still  "in  moving  and  inspiring  men,  suggestion  is  to  be  considered 
in  every  way  the  equal  of  logical  reasoning,  and  as  such  is  to  be  made 
the  subject  of  consideration  for  every  man  who  is  interested  in  influencing 
his  fellow  men." 

"The  working  of  suggestion,"  says  Scott/  "is  dependent 
upon  the  impulsive,  dynamic  natj^ire  of  ideas.  .  .  . 
We  conceive  of  ideas  as  being  nothing  more  than  formal, 
inert  reasons  and  assume  that  to  secure  action  we  must 
add  to  our  ideas  the  activity  of  the  will.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  .  .  .  ideas  are  the  most  live  things  in  the 
universe.  They  are  dynamic  and  lead  to  action.  This 
dynamic,  impulsive  nature  of  ideas  is  expressed  in  the 
following  law: 

r' Every  idea  of  an  action  will  result  in  that  action  unless 
fiindered  by   an  impeding  idea  or  physical  impediment. j    . 

"The  dynamic  nature  of  ideas  is  further  shown  by  the 
fact  which  is  expressed  in  the  following  general  law: 

['Every  idea,  concept  or  conclusion  v)hich  enters  the 
mind  is  held  as  true  unless  hindered  by  some  contradictory 
idea.'] 

The  most  significant  feature  of  suggestion  is  that  it 
secures  assent  directly,  without  reasons  for  beliefs  or 
motives  for  action.  These  may  exist,  but  they  are  not 
in  mind.  There  is  no  deliberation  and  criticism,  for  no 
opposing  or  inhibiting  ideas  are  thought  of.  Full  atten- 
tion is  given  at  once  to  the  suggested  idea.  When  I 
accept  an  idea  from  command,  fashion,  tradition,  instruc- 
tion, convention,  example,  or  personal  influence,  or  what 
Ross  sums  up"  as  "social  pressure,"  without  deliberation, 
I  am  governed  by  suggestion.  If  I  consider  thus: 
It  is  a  tradition  in  my  family  to  belong  to  the  Republican 
party ;  I  will  therefore  be  a  Republican ;  or,  It  is  the  proper 
thing  to  wear  a  white  tie  with  a  dress  coat;  I  will  obey  the 
convention,  I  am  not  acting  under  suggestion.     But  if  I  do 

^Influencing  Men  in  Business,  p.  37.         "^Social  Control,  p.  148. 


280  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

these  things  as  a  matter  of  course,  without  considering  the 
advisibihty  of  other  courses,  then  I  act  on  suggestion. 

You  have  noticed  that  all  this  is  quite  in  line  with  our  theory  of  per- 
suasion; and,  indeed,  the  quotations  from  Scott  seem  but  a  restatement 
of  that  theory.  But  suggestion  is  only  one  phase  of  persuasion.  Some 
of  the  means  of  persuasion  we  have  already  discussed  might  be  placed 
under  suggestion,  but  not  the  presentation  of  motives,  or  any  means 
that  involves  argument  and  deliberation.  The  term  suggestion  is  not 
necessary  to  our  treatment;  but  it  already  has  a  place  in  popular  dis- 
cussions and  it  furnishes  a  convenient  terminology  for  discussing  certain 
phenomena,  especially  the  conduct  of  crowds. 

\  Methods  of  Suggestion.  Repetition  and  amphfication 
are  important  means  of  suggestion,  when  they  do  not 
provoke  critical  consideration.  1  Such  repetition  is  well 
illustrated  by  advertisements.  It  is  said  that  the  phrase, 
"Just  get  the  Dehneator,"  repeated  over  and  over  again 
in  advertisements  in  periodicals  and  on  bill  boards,  some 
years  ago,  drove  hundreds  of  men  with  no  natural  interest 
in  its  contents,  to  buy  the  magazine.  Imagery  is  another 
potent  means  of  suggestion,  and  figures  of  speech  are 
especially  emphasized  by  Scott. 

Authority,  and  Suggestion.  All  writers  upon  suggestion 
emphasize /the  force  of  authority  and  prestige.  J  i  Ideas 
presented  to  us  by  one  who  commands  our  respect, 
either  in  general  or  with  reference  to  the  matter  in  hand, 
arc  often  accepted  without  question,  i  Their  effect, 
which  is  distinct  from  that  of  authorities  presented  in 
an  argument  to  be  weighed  along  with  other  evidence, 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  no  doubts  arise  to  divide  attention. 
When  a  child  accepts  the  statements  of  his  father  as 
absolute  truth,  we  have  an  example  of  authority  as  sug- 
gestion. A  friend  of  mine  who  accepts  any  statement 
made  by  Mr.  Roosevelt  as  truth,  acts  on  suggestion; 
and  another  friend  who  rejects  any  statement  by  the  same 
gentleman  acts  on  contra-suggestion.  The  soldier's 
unquestioning  obedience  also  illustrates  suggestion. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  281 

/  A  speaker  can  make  use  of  authority  by  way  of  quota- 
tioiT  from  those  greatly  ; respected.  Some  can  speak  as 
authorities  themselves.  I  A  speaker's  authoritativeness 
is  increased  by  judicious  advertising  of  his  coming,  and 
by  a  degree  of  formality  and  dignity  in  the  conduct  of 
the  meeting.  He  should  not  scorn  taking  some  pains 
to  secure  announcements  which,  while  they  provoke  inter- 
est in  advance,  do  not  suggest  a  cheap,  sensational  speech; 
also  to  secure  a  proper  place  for  speaking  and  suitable 
arrangements  for  the  conduct  of  his  meeting. 

JThe  Impulse  to  Imitate.  |  The  impulse  to  imitate, 
strongest  in  children,  whose  play  is  attempt  after  attempt 
to  repeat  the  actions  of  their  elders,  is  also  strong  in 
adults,  though  checked  somewhat  by  judgment  and  habit. 
One  yawns  and  a  whole  company  yawns.  We  often 
see  one  who  watches  the  movements  of  another  with 
absorbed  interest,  unconsciously  making  imitative  move- 
ments. It  is  not  often  that  a  speaker  can  perform  upon 
the  platform  actions  which  he  wishes  his  audience  to 
imitate;  though  he  may  at  times,  as  when  he  subscribes 
liberally  to  the  cause  for  which  he  appeals.  But  he  may 
be  able  to  stir  the  impulse  to  imitate  by  bringing  vividly 
into  imagination  pictures  of  others  doing  what  he 
wishes  them  to  do,  as  fighting  on  the  battlefield,  the  grid- 
iron, or  in  the  pohtical  arena.  The  speaker  who  is  himself 
an  embodiment  of  his  cause,  who  is  known  to  his  hearers 
to  have  done  with  his  might  what  he  calls  upon  them  to 
do,  will  peculiarly  prompt  imitation.  Soldiers  distin- 
guished for  gallant  conduct  are  effective  pleaders  for 
enhstment  in  England  during  the  European  war. 

Social  Suggestion.  Greater  than  the  impulse  to  imitate 
single  acts  is  the  tendency  to  yield  to  environment, 
custom,  convention  and  common  opinion.  Our  submis- 
sion to  these  forces  is  due  not  merely  to  conscious  fear 
of  what  our  neighbors  or  Mrs.  Grundy  may  say;    but  is 


282  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

largely  the  result  of  "mass  suggestion."  Certain  ideas 
are  suggested  to  us  on  every  hand;  they  are  constantly 
brought  to  attention,  and  win  by  reiteration.  Doubt, 
criticism  and  deliberation  in  regard  to  them  rarely  get  a 
chance. 

^"Everything  we  do  reveals  the  pull  on  conduct  exerted  by  social 
pressure.  Our  foods  and  drinks,  our  dress  and  furniture,  our  religious 
emotions,  our  investments,  and  even  our  matrimonial  choices  confess 
the  sway  of  fashion  and  vogue.  Whatever  is  common  reaches  us  by 
way  of  example  or  advice  or  intimidation  from  a  hundred  directions. 
In  our  most  private  choices  we  are  swerved  from  our  orbit  by  the 
solar  attraction — or  repulsion — of  the  conventional.  In  public  opinion 
there  is  something  which  is  not  praise  or  blame,  and  this  residuum  is 
mass  suggestion."  A  man  obeys  this  "social  imperative,"  not  because 
he  decides  that  it  is  wise  to  obey,  "but  because  he  feels  that  he  must.^" 
Those  who  do  not  obey  are  the  "deliberate  criminal  and  the  moral 
insurgent." 

"People  of  narrow  orbit — children,  farmers'  \vives,  spinsters,  peasants, 
fishermen,  humble  village  folk,  often  soldiers  and  sailors — are  slaves 
to  an  imposed  sense  of  obligation.  Prolonged  exposure  to  a  circle  or 
group  that  speaks  always  with  the  same  decision  the  same  commands, 
benumbs  the  will  over  whole  areas  of  choice.  On  the  other  hand, 
whatever  breaks  the  clench  of  the  environment  or  invigorates  the  will, — 
liberal  education,  discussion,  travel,  varied  experience,  contact  with  new 
types  of  men,  leadership,  new  ideas  and  wants,  changes  in  general 
opinion  or  intellectual  progress, — these  undermine  the  tyranny  of  group 

suggestions Old  colleges,  universities,  monasteries,  senates, 

academies,  administrative  departments,  army  and  navy,  ancient  families 
and  quiet  neighborhoods  become  the  haunt  of  traditions  that  cast  a 
spell  over  those  who  come  within  their  reach." 

The  speaker  who  can  make  his  audience  feel  the  social 
imperative  pushing  them  in  the  direction  he  washes  them 
to  go,  has  a  powerful  weapon.  This  force  will  most  often 
be  available  to  repress  radical  action,  or  to  turn  men 
from  courses  deemed  immoral  by  their  communities. 
To  use  this  force  in  support  of  unconventional  or  radi- 
cal proposals,   it  is  necessary  to   show  that  other  and 

^Ross,  Social  Control,  p.  148. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  283 

respected  communities,  are  acting  in  accord  mth  the  course 
proposed.  Sometimes  one  can  show  that  the  larger 
community  of  which  the  body  addressed  forms  a  part, 
has  adopted  the  proposal.  There  is  much  influence, 
also,  in  the  vague  "they"  who  are  doing  so  and  so,  or 
who  are  no  longer  doing  so  and  so.  In  bringing  to  bear 
the  influence  of  other  environments,  we  see  again  the  part 
of  imagination. 

We  can  appreciate  the  force  of  the  above  by  reflecting  upon  the  change 
produced  in  our  interests,  opinions  and  morals  by  changing  from  one 
environment  to  another  widely  differing,  as  from  a  country  village  to 
a  large  city.  Again,  we  see  college  students  filled  with  tremendous 
zeal  for  all  the  enterprises  of  student  life  and  pledging  undj'ing  loyalty 
to  Alma  Mater;  and  we  see  many  of  these  same  men  going  out  to  forget 
her  entirely  in  a  new  environment,  which  influences  them  in  the  same 
way.  Now,  if  a  speaker  has  the  power  to  make  them  live  again  the 
old  life,  he  can  make  them  feel  again  the  old  obligations. 

Immediate  Action.  I  Suggestion  prompts  to  immediate 
action;  and  this  is  one  of  its  advantages  over  argument./ 
But  this  advantage  suggests  a  corresponding  disadvan- 
tage. I  Normal  suggestibility  requires  immediate  execution 
as  one  of  its  most  indispensable  conditions."!  It  is  vnse, 
therefore,  to  provide  some  immediate  outlet  for  the  im- 
pulse. Advertisers  provide  a  coupon  to  tear  off  and  send 
at  once,  and  make  this  as  convenient  as  possible.  "Do  it 
to-day,"  they  urge.  "Obey  that  impulse," — right  away. 
Stamped  and  directed  envelopes  are  sent  out  with  cir- 
culars. So  speakers  ask  their  hearers  to  do  something  at 
once,  to  make  a  beginning  by  signing  a  card  or  a  petition, 
to  vote  for  a  resolution  already  prepared,  to  stand  up,  to 
subscribe  at  once  though  payment  be  not  convenient  till 
later.  Gain  immediate  assent  in  some  form,  if  only 
\agorous  applause  for  a  sentiment  thrown  out  for  the 
purpose  of  gi\ing  reign  to  the  awakened  impulse,  and  of 
getting  assent  before  there  is  time  for  doubt. 

^Sidis,  The  Psychology  of  Suggestion,  p.  88. 


284  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Direct  and  Indirect  Suggestion.  In  dealing  vnih  weak 
persons  the  direct  command  is  often  most  effective;  but 
a  weak  person  who  suspects  that  he  is  being  treated  as 
weak,  may  resist  with  great  stubbornness.  The  direct 
suggestion  is  in  order  when  one  is  in  authority  over  those 
addressed;  yet  it  is  noticeable  that  men  of  great  authority 
use  it  less  than  those  of  little.  While  there  are  times 
when  the  speaker  should  speak  vnih  authority,  either  his 
own  or  that  of  the  power  he  represents ;  yet  direct  com- 
mand or  suggestion  must  be  used  with  circumspection, 
lest  it  arouse  hostility.  One  may  say  at  times,  "Why 
not  do  so  and  so,"  or,"Let's  do  so  and  so,"  or,  "I  suggest," 
or^"So  and  so  suggests." 

(indirect  suggestion  is  most  effective  when  our  hearers 
arrive  at  the  desired  conclusion  before  it  is  fully  expressed, 
and  the  expression  comes  as  a  confirmation  of  a  conclu- 
sion they  have  seemed  to  arrive  at  unaided. \  If  an 
acquaintance  manages  to  get  you  interested  in  his  needs 
so  that  the  thought  of  lending  him  money  comes  to  you, 
he  is  more  hkely  to  get  help  than  if  he  asked  you  out- 
right. It  is  often  best  for  the  speaker  to  ask,  "What  shall 
we  do.f^"  provided  he  has  insured  the  right  answer  by 
suggestion. 

A  book  agent  employs  direct  suggestion  when  he  leans  toward  one  with 
a  blank  and  pencil,  saying,  "Sign  here."  We  have  to  admit  the  trick 
is  effective.  Even  if  we  resist  it,  we  feel  its  pull.  But  when  we  realize 
the  trick  we  resent  it  to  the  undoing  of  the  agent,  so  far  as  that  sale  is 
concerned. 

iContra-SuggestionJ  We  can  employ  also  contra-sug- 
^  stion,  of  which  McX)ougall  says:^ 

"By  this  word  it  is  usual  to  denote  the  mode  of  action 
of  one  individual  on  another  which  results  in  the  second 
accepting,  in  the  absence  of  adequate  logical  grounds, 
the  contrary  of  the  proposition  asserted  or  implied  by  the 
agent.     There  are  persons  with  whom  this  result  is  very 

^Social  Psychology,  p.  101. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  285 

liable  to  be  produced  by  an  attempt  to  exert  suggestive 
influence,  or  even  by  the  most  ordinary  or  casual  utter- 
ance. One  rem^arks  to  such  a  person.  ...  'I  think 
you  ought  to  take  a  holiday,'  and,  though  he  had  himself 
contemplated  this  course,  he  replies,  'No,  I  don't  need 
one,'  and  becomes  immovably  fixed  in  that  opinion." 

Do  we  not  all  feel  the  force  of  contra-suggestion  when 
we  see  a  sign,  "Hands  off,"  or  "Keep  off  the  grass." 
While  a  reasonably  confident  and  positive  manner  is 
certainly  better  than  a  weak  and  fawning  manner,  it  is 
plain  that  positiveness  can  easily  be  overdone,  and  that 
indirect  suggestion  is  often  needed. 

Mark  Antony's  speech  in  Julius  Coesar  is  a  famous  illustration  of 
both  indirect  and  contra-suggestion.  Another  illustration  of  contra- 
suggestion  is  found  in  lago's  words  to  Othello,  after  subtly  leading  the 
latter  to  believe  Desdemona  untrue,  "Let  her  live."  Lovers  of  "Uncle 
Remus"  will  be  glad  to  identify  contra-suggestion  in  the  method  of 
Brer  Rabbit's  escape  after  his  capture  by  Brer  Fox  and  his  Tar  Baby — 
"  'Do  please,  Brer  Fox,  don't  fling  me  in  dat  brier-patch,'  sezee." 

Royce^  speaks  of  social  opposition,  or  the  desire  to  con- 
trast one's  self  with  one's  fellows  in  behavior,  opinion,  or 
power.  This  desire  for  distinction,  in  small  ways  as  well 
as  in  large,  balances  the  tendency  to  imitate  and  conform. 
It  is,  as  it  seems  to  me,  too  little  considered  by  writers 
on  suggestion.  \ 

Increasing  Suggestibility.  By  suggestibilitv  is  meant 
our  degree  of  susceptibility  to  suggestion.  \  Not  only 
do  indi\dduals  differ  greatly  in  this  respect,  since  they 
differ  in  their  tendency  to  criticise  and  deliberate,  but 
also  the  same  persons  differ  much  under  different  cir- 
cumstances which  induce  different  mocds.  When  more 
emiotional  we  are  more  suggestible,  for  then  we  scan 
less  whatever  is  congruous  with  our  feeling.  Individuals 
and  communities  aroused  by  party  feeling,  war  lust,  calami- 
ties, or  the  fever  of  speculation,  are  little  guided  by  judg- 

^Outlines  of  Psychology,  p.  277. 


286  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

ment,  but  seize  upon  any  suggestion  congruous  with  their 
mood  and  carry  it  into,  immediate  execution. 

Effect  of  Numbers.  lEvery  speaker  knows  that  it  is 
easier  to  move  a  large  jaumber  than  a  small;  he  knows 
that  a  few  persons  are  more  critical  than  a  crowd.  I  What- 
ever causes  us  to  feel  strongly  our  individuality,  our 
importance  and  responsibility  as  persons,  works  against 
suggestion.  "Intensity  of  personality  is  in  inverse  pro- 
portion to  the  number  of  aggregated  men."^  When  a 
proposal  is  put  to  one  alone  he  feels  he  must  exercise  his 
judgment;  but  when  many  are  present,  he  feels  less  keenly 
his  responsibility.  It  is  said  that  one  reason  corporations 
do  deeds  which  individual  directors  would  never  do, 
lies  in  this  decreased  sense  of  responsibility.  The  same 
reason  may  be  given  to  explain  the  fact  that  large  legisla- 
tive bodies  are  more  radical  than  small  bodies,  and  also 
the  fact  that  men  in  numbers  will  support  measures 
that  individually  they  would  not  have  the  moral  courage 
to  support. 

The  Psychological  Crowd.  This  term  means  more  than 
a  large  number  of  people  together.  That  is  termed 
a  heterogeneous  crowd.  A  thousand  people  who  have 
come  together  casually  in  a  city  park  or  square,  are  more 
suggestible  than  a  few;  but  if  they  have  come  together  for 
a  common  purpose,  as  to  hear  a  socialist  orator,  they  are 
much  more  suggestible.  And  if  they  are  feeling  a  com- 
mon emotion,  as  hatred  of  capital  or  a  sense  of  wrong, 
then  they  are  highly  suggestible.  A  group  "fused" 
together  by  some  strong  bond  is  called  a  psycJwlogical 
or  homogeneous  crowd.  In  the  following  pages  the 
single  word  crowd  will  bear  this  meaning. 

We  see  such  crowds  in  a  bleacher  full  of  students  cheering  for  their 
team  in  opposition  to  another  crowd  across  the  the  field;   in  a  theater 

^Sidis,  Psychology  of  Suggestion,  p.  299. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  287 

where  all  share  enjoyment  of  the  play,  or  in  an  audience  swayed  by  a 
common  emotion. 

Characteristics  of  Men  in  Crowds.  Men  think  less 
keenly  in  a  psychological  crowd,  their  minds  being  more 
or  less  overcome  by  mass  suggestion.  They  are,  therefore, 
less  critical  and  discriminating,  more  emotional  and 
responsive.  They  will  respond  to  sentiments  more  noble 
and  more  base  than  those  which  ordinarily  control  them. 
They  are  credulous  and  accept  exaggeration  as  wisdom. 
With  the  decrease  in  the  sense  of  personal  responsibility, 
there  is  a  relaxing  of  habitual  restraints,  reserve  and 
caution.  A  crowd  of  men,  usually  polite,  will  hoot  at 
strangers,  womxCn,  or  authorities.  INIen  usually  reserved 
will  slap  each  other  on  the  back,  shake  hands  with  strang- 
ers, parade  in  lock-step,  laugh,  shout,  sing  with  abandon. 
Jokes  are  funnier,  sorrows  more  grievous,  sentiments  more 
uplifting.  They  have  more  courage,  but  also  more  fear. 
A  company  of  soldiers  will  stand  fire  longer  than  one  man, 
but  once  routed  may  fall  into  a  panic  such  as  one  man 
alone  would  never  feel.  Men  in  crowds  are  in  every  way 
more  primitive.  They  place  high  value  on  symbols, 
regalia  and  watchwords.  They  are  extremely  imagina- 
tive. "To  know  the  art  of  impressing  the  imagination 
of  crowds,"  says  LeBon,^  "is  to  know  the  art  of  governing 
them." 

/Besides  the  loosening  of  restraint  and  the  increase  of 
emotional  responsiveness  in  a  crowd,  there  is  the  multi- 
plication of  suggestion.  I  When  an  idea  presented  by  a 
speaker  seems  to  be  indorsed  by  all  those  about  me,  it  is 
suggested  to  me  by  all,  and  is  forced  upon  my  attention, 
driving  out  my  opposing  thoughts.  Were  you  never  in  a 
meeting  where  the  appeals  of  a  fervid  speaker  were 
reflected  by  the  intent  faces  of  those  about  you?     Did 

^TheCrowd,p.  61. 


288  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

you  not  feel  the  power  of  the  united  pull?  There  is  a 
feeling  like  that  of  slipping.  If  one  is  not  to  yield  he  must 
resist;  and  the  way  to  resist  is  to  think  hard  of  all  the 
objections  to  the  behef  or  the  course  urged.  At  times  it 
is  hard  to  recall  these  objections.  Suppose  you,  a  con- 
vinced pacifist ,  are  in  a  crowd  roused  to  enthusiasm  by  a 
plea  for  recruits  for  a  war  to  you  unjustifiable.  You 
object  to  the  plea,  which  is  based  upon  nationalism  and 
race  hatred.  Your  objections  are  in  no  way  answered 
by  the  speaker;  but  unless  you  make  an  effort  you  may 
lose  your  hold  on  these  objections  and  be  swept  from  your 
moorings.  You  fail  to  keep  your  attention  on  your  real 
beliefs;  and  it  is  conceivable  that,  in  an  extreme  instance, 
you  might  come  to  yourself  as  a  recruit.  It  would  be  the 
task  of  an  opposition  speaker,  manifestly,  very  firmly  and 
repeatedly  to  bring  the  objections  back  to  attention. 

Sometimes  we  seem  divided  against  ourselves,  our  feelings  won, 
but  our  minds  resisting.  A  story  is  told^  of  Wendell  Phillips's  oration 
before  the  Harvard  Phi  Beta  Kappa  society,  in  which  he  made  a  conserva- 
tive and  distinguished  audience  applaud,  more  than  thirty  years  ago, 
women's  suffrage,  Irish  home  rule,  and  Russian  Nihilism.  One  man 
was  heard  "applauding  and  stamping  his  feet  with  the  utmost  enthus- 
iasm, exclaiming  at  the  same  time,    'The  d old  liar,  the  d old 

liar!'"     That  was  his  way  of  keeping  his  attention  on  his  real  beliefs. 

Desirability  of  Forming  a  Crewi.  I  pass  over  for  the 
present  the  moral  question  involved  and  consider  only 
expediency.  [Plainly  enough  a  crowd  with  its  high  degree 
of  suggestibility  is  more  easily  swayed  than  a  calmly 
deliberating  body  J  JBut  where  deliberation  is  desired 
the  crowd  state  is  clearly  undesirable.!  It  must  be 
remembered,  too,  that  while  some  who  are  carried  away 
by  crowd  feeling  will  remain  won,  many  will  recover  their 
judgment  and  revolt.  [The  surer  way  is  to  win  by  sound 
argument.!    On   the   other   hand,    even    when   the   first 

^Atlantic  Monthly' I) ecemher,  1912,  p.  773. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  289 

business  is  conviction,  the  time  comes  when  the  dehbera- 
tive  mood  must  give  way  and  the  audience  be  brought 
into  community  of  feehng;  assuming  that  united  action 
is  desired.  There  are  times,  too,  when  there  is  no  time 
for  argument;  when  it  is  suggestion  or  nothing.  And 
there  are  some  people  with  whom  argument  at  any  time 
is  impossible.  At  any  rate,  we  wish  to  understand  crowds 
and  their  formation,  if  only  to  know  how  to  com- 
bat the  efforts  of  an  opponent  to  change  an  audience 
which  we  wish  to  retain  as  a  deliberative  body,  into 
a  crowd,  and  how  to  recover  control  when  he  has  suc- 
ceeded. 

( Methods  of  Forming  a  Psychological  Crowd.  I  There 
are  many  audiences  which  it  is  practically  impossible  to 
turn  into  a  crowd,  as  when  there  are  two  opposing  fac- 
tions in  a  political  convention, — unless,  indeed,  these 
can  be  brought  to  compromise.  Bodies  whose  business 
is  deliberation,  and  audiences  largely  made  up  of  men 
trained  in  argument,  are  not  likely  to  yield  except  under 
the  most  emotional  circumstances. 

We  know  that  political  conventions  can  be  "stampeded."  Andrew 
D.  White  has  of  late  refused  to  attend  national  political  conventions  as 
a  delegate,  on  the  ground  that  they  have  lost  their  deliberative  charac- 
ter, having  come  under  the  sway  of  the  great  audiences  permitted  in 
the  galleries;  that  is,  of  mass  suggestion.  There  are  also  in  such  con- 
ventions many  delegates  not  trained  to  deliberate;  there  is  usually 
much  excitement,  and  well  understood  methods  are  used  to  bring  about 
"stampedes." 

We  have  already  touched  upon  some  of  the  means  of 
changing  an  ordinary  gathering  into  a  psychological 
crowd,  in  our  discussion  of  suggestion.  I  The  first  favorable 
condition  is  to  have  a  large  number  of  people  together. 
More  important  than  actual  numbers  is  having  the  hall 
full,  even  crowded.  Avoid  having  two  hundred  people 
in  a  hall  large  enough  for  five  hundred.     If  this  is  not 


290  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

possible/ bring  those  present  together  in  a  compact  body.   \ 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  said  •} 

'Teoi)le  often  say,  'Do  you  not  think  it  is  much  more 
inspiring  to  speak  to  a  large  audience  than  a  small  one?' 
No,  I  say;  I  can  speak  just  as  well  to  twelve  persons  as  to 
a  thousand,  provided  those  twelve  are  crowded  around  me 
and  close  together,  so  that  they  touch  each  other.  But 
even  a  thousand  people,  \^^th  four  feet  of  space  between 
every  two  of  them,  would  be  just  the  same  as  an  empty 
room.  .  .  .  Crowd  your  audience  together  and  you 
will  set  them  off  with  not  half  the  effort." 

A  young  lady  who  had  been  successful  in  arguing  "votes  for  women" 
in  the  streets  of  New  York  and  in  other  places  that  would  try  the  courage 
of  most,  told  me  that  the  worst  time  she  ever  had  was  before  a  very 
polite  body  of  people  seated  around  the  sides  of  a  room,  leaving  the  center 
open. 

The  reason  given^  for  the  greater  ease  of  dealing  with  a  compact 
body  is  that  there  is  a  limitation  of  the  voluntary  movements  upon  which 
our  sense  of  individuality  depends;  It  is  also  true  that  we  are  more  sen- 
sible of  the  suggestions  of  our  neighbors  when  we  touch  elbows.  A 
man  entering  a  hall  to  criticise  proceedings  and  determined  not  to  yield 
to  what  he  hears,  will  instinctively  keep  on  the  outskirts  of  the  audience. 

Other  means  are  taken  to/ decrease  the  sense  of  per- 
sonality. lUniform  costumes  are  provided.  Members  of 
the  audience  are  led  to  do  things  together,  read  a  ritual, 
sing  or  cheer  together,  stand  up  and  sit  down,  laugh, 
applaud,  and  vote  together.  Perhaps  music  is  the 
greatest  unifying  force;  but]  the  essential  is  to  induce 
all  to  yield  to  a  common  readership  J  A  story  is  told 
of  a  popular  evangelist  who  became  so  exasperated  at 
a  man  who  would  not  obey  the  summons,  "Now  let 
us  all  join  in  singing  hymn  No.  312,"  that  he  hurled  his 
hymn  book  at  the  obdurate  one. 

^Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching,  First  Series,  p.  73.  That  the  belief  that 
crowds  are  something  other  than  mere  aggregations  of  individuals 
and  have  individuaHties  of  their  own,  is  not  merely  a  theory  of  the 
"new"  psychology,  will  be  found  by  reading  some  not  recent  books  by 
orators,  such  as  Phillips  Brooks's  Lectures  on  Preaching,  p.  183-188. 

'^Sidis,  Psychology  of  Suggestion,  p.  299. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  291 

The  speaker  touches  upon  sentiments  and  opinions  held 
in  common.  Perhaps  he  has  kept  back  some  secret, 
regarding  the  progress  of  the  canvass,  for  example,  or  the 
gift  of  a  new  stadium,  with  which  to  set  the  crowd  cheer- 
ing. He  lets  them  laugh  at  jokes  that  appeal  to  all,  and 
maybe  turns  abruptly  to  pathos;  and  when  the  members 
of  an  audience  have  applauded,  laughed,  and  maybe 
sighed  a  bit  in  common,  much  of  the  aloofness,  reserve, 
and  hostility  of  men  as  individuals  is  gone,  and  with  it 
their  resisting  power.  Those  around  you  seem  like  good 
fellows,  though  at  first  they  may  not  have  seemed  your 
sort.  Doing  things  together  increases  friendliness.  It 
is  impossible  to  consider  a  man  who  looks  as  foolish  in  his 
regalia  as  you  do  in  yours,  as  an  entire  stranger.  And  the 
speaker,  who  agrees  with  your  pet  opinions  and  seems  to 
have  had  the  same  human  experiences,  seems  a  good  fellow 
too.  This  spirit  of  friendliness  is  as  important  as  the 
lessening  of  individuality. 

/Anything  which  creates  a  strained  expectancy  increases 
crowd  feelinfe,  as  that  great  news  is  momentarily  expected^ 
or  that  the  solution  of  an  important  problem  will  soon  be 
announced.  A  prolonged  silence,  provided  it  be  charged 
with  strong  anticipation,  will  increase  the  effect  of  a 
following  announcement.  There  should  be  no  appearance 
of  aimlessness  in  the  proceedings,  but  an  impressive 
regularity,  at  least  until  the  time  arrives  for  some  startling 
effect.  Even  an  intense  sort  of  monotony  is  desirable. 
To  change  the  regular  order,  or  otherwise  to  break  the 
monotony,  is  a  method  of  overcoming  the  crowd  tendency; 
or  it  may  be  a  step  toward  forming  a  crowd  with  different 
aims. 

When  an  attempt  is  made  to  stampede  a  political  convention  for  a 
certain  candidate,  the  regular  order  is  broken  in  upon  by,  perhaps,  a 
woman  in  white  leaning  from  the  balcony,  waving  a  flag  and  shouting 
for  her  candidate.     Then  standards  are  seized,  a  procession  is  formed, 


292  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

headed  perhaps  by  the  same  woman  and  a  band  which  plays  over  and 
over  again  the  same  strains,  some  piece  popular  in  the  convention, 
and  with  the  paraders  singing  and  shouting.  In  the  midst  of  the  seem- 
ing confusion,  there  is  regularity  to  the  point  of  monotony;  and  the 
uproar  is  continued  till  success  is  assured,  or  exhaustion  brings  an  end. 
Absurd  as  these  proceedings  are  in  the  midst  of  conventions  which  we 
are  solemnly  told  are  essential  to  republican  governmejit,  they  some- 
times succeed  when  "sprung"  at  the  right  moment;  usually  when  a 
convention  is  facing  a  deadlock  and  there  is  great  tension  of  feeling, 
with  hopelessness  on  the  part  of  many  in  regard  to  nominating  their 
favorite  candidates. 

Since  witnessing  what  was  widely  reported  as  a  stampede  at  the  Pro- 
gressive State  Convention  in  Syracuse  in  1912,  where  "Susi)ender  Jack" 
is  supposed  to  have  swept  the  delegates  off  their  feet,  I  am  convinced 
that  many  so-called  stampedes  are  not  such  in  fact.  The  uproar  in 
that  case  was  the  result  of  a  belief  that  Mr.  Oscar  Strauss  was  the  only 
nominee  for  governor  of  New  York  who  could  relieve  the  party  of  an- 
embarrassing  situation  and  give  hope  of  success,  and  was  a  deliberate 
attempt  to  break  down  the  resistance  of  Mr.  Strauss  to  being  nominated. 
He,  if  anyone,  was  stampeded.  It  was  to  be  noticed,  however,  that 
after  the  convention  had  gone  through  the  form  of  a  stampede,  it 
was  never  again  a  deliberative  body,  and  was  impatient  of  argument  and 
near  the  point  of  breaking  loose  at  all  times  until  the  adjournment  late 
the  same  evening. 

A  Word  of  Warning.  Do  not  suppose,  as  I  speak  of 
these  extreme  manifestations  for  the  sake  of  illustrating 
crowd  spirit,  and  shall  go  on  to  speak  of  still  more  extreme 
manifestations,  that  a  psychological  crowd  is  always 
in  an  uproar  or  doing  extreme  things.  It  may  be  in- 
tensely quiet,  showing  no  signs  except  to  the  observant 
eye.  Religious  audiences,  as  often  as  any,  become  crowds ; 
but  they  rarely  become  noisy,  at  least  they  rarely  exceed 
the  customs  of  the  particular  sect.  Moreover,  audiences 
are  but  rarely  completely  fused  into  crowds. 

Mobs.  Crowds  pass  into  mobs.  Even  the  heterogen- 
eous crowd  is  a  potential  mob.  A  startling  event,  as 
the  cry  of  fire,  may  cause  a  mob.  'J  Fixation  of  atten- 
tion accompanied  by  the  awakening  of  any  intense  feeling. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  293 

such  as  anger,  fear,  triumph  or  contempt,  may  change 
a  company  of  people  into  a  mob.  r  The  sight  of  a  cruel 
act  on  the  street  may  cause  a  mob  more  cruel  than  the 
object  of  its  wrath.  A  group  of  school  boys  may  quickly 
turn  to  a  mob  at  the  opportunity  to  ridicule  one  of  its 
members.  An  audience  which  is  not  interested  may  be- 
come a  mob  under  the  inspiration  of  a  witticism  from  the 
gallery,  and  the  speaker  will  be  skillful  who  regains 
control. 

/  A  mob  is  in  an  extremely  suggestible  state,  approaching 
that  of  hypnosis/  "Social  suggestibility,"  says  Sidis,^ 
*'is  individual  hypnotization  written  large."  The  indi- 
vidual is  lost  in  the  crowd,  which  may  be  said  to  have 
an  individuality  of  its  own.  The  individual's  sense 
of  propriety  and  of  responsibility,  his  morality  and  his 
judgment  are  gone.  The  mob's  will  is  his  will.  He  will 
entertain  the  wildest  ideas  suggested  to  him,  he  will  do 
the  most  absurd,  the  most  base,  the  most  cruel,  the  most 
noble  of  acts, — acts  which  on  the  morrow  he  views  with 
disgust,  horror,  or  wonder. 

No  honest  man  will  ever  wish  to  form  a  mob;  but  he 
may  wish  to  know  how  to  check  an  audience  which 
threatens  to  fall  into  the  mob  state,  because  it  has  been 
wrought  upon  by  another,  or  because  it  has  met  in  time 
of  panic.     Only  a  few  hints  can  be  attempted  here. 

A  Crowd  or  a  Mob  Demands  a  Leader.  Even  a  herd 
of  horses  or  steers  will,  when  stampeded,  select  a  leader. 
In  this  demand  lies  an  opportunity  for  an  honest  man 
to  lead  for  good,  and  of  a  demagogue  to  lead  for  evil. 
iThe  first  attempt  of  one  whose  audience  shows  signs  of 
'running  "away  with  him,"  is  to  make  himself  its  leader/ 
To  do  this  it  may  be  necessary  to  seem  to  fall  in  with  its 
spirit  and  purpose,  whatever  they  may  be.  Protest 
^Psychology  of  Suggestion,  p.  327. 


294  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

is  useless.  When  their  confidence  is  gained,  it  may  be 
possible  to  turn  them  in  another  direction,  for  a  mob  is 
very  fickle.  At  times  a  trick  is  justifiable.  A  story  is 
told  of  an  audience  determined  to  hoot  down  a  speaker. 
A  tall  figure  rose  among  them  and  caught  their  atten- 
tion for  an  instant.  "Well,  fellow  citizens,"  the  man 
drawled,  "I  wouldn't  keep  still  if  I  didn't  want  to."  The 
crowd  applauded  the  sentiment  and  then  listened  for  more. 
"But  if  I  were  you,  I  should  want  to!"  was  the  unexpected 
conclusion.  They  laughed  and  then  kept  still.  Pre- 
sumably this  was  a  good-natured  mob.  If  we  take  the 
extreme  case  of  a  mob  bent  on  a  lynching,  there  have  been 
instances  where  leaders  have  led  in  the  wrong  direction, 
and,  seemingly  much  disappointed  themselves,  have 
wearied  the  mob  with  their  marchings  and  counter- 
marchings. 

/The  first  and  most  difficult  part  of  gaining  leadership 
of  a  mob,  is  to  get  its  attention.  Some  striking  gesture 
or  pose  may  be  necessary,  f  A  striking  expression  may  be 
interjected  into  some  pause  in  the  noise.  It  is  of  course 
useless  to  attempt  to  argue  with  a  mob,  for  it  is  incapable 
of  reasoning.  There  is  no  use  of  telling  a  mob  that  what 
it  wishes  to  do  is  wrong,  for  jeers  or  worse  "vvdll  be  the 
answer  to  opposition.  The  mob  has  perfect  confidence 
in  the  rectitude  of  its  owa  intentions:  it  is  going  to  free 
the  town  of  an  incubus,  to  drive  out  a  monster,  to  do 
justice  by  a  soulless  corporation  that  is  grinding  the  faces 
of  the  poor,  it  is  fighting  for  its  homes,  its  children  and  the 
honor  of  its  women.  Since  the  mob  is  highly  primitive, 
it  thinks  in  images  only;  hence  a  would-be  leader  should 
address  it  in  vivid  imagery.  It  accepts  as  literal  truth 
the  most  extravagant  exaggeration,  and  likes  large  phrases 
and  big,  vague  sentiments,  put  in  the  most  absolute, 
unmodified  form.  The  leader  should  talk  much  of 
liberty,  equality,  fraternity,  of  honor,  patriotism,  and  the 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  295 

rights  of  man.  Explain  nothing,  but  affirm  and  repeat. 
JThe  mob  is  much  influenced  by  prestige,  and  a  man  who 
enjoys  high  position  in  its  eyes  has  a  superior  chance  to 
control  it;  but  any  one  can  make  use  of  the  names  of  its 
heroes.  | 

A  student  tells  me  of  how  800  students  in  his  high  school,  seized  by  a 
sudden  fancy,  refused  to  go  to  their  work  after  luncheon  and  proceeded 
to  march  around  and  around  the  school  building  with  cheers  and  songs. 
They  refused  to  listen  to  the  principal,  who  begged  them  to  return  home 
at  least;  but  when  Murphy,  athlete  and  leader,  jumped  upon  a  box  they 
listened;  and  when  he  shouted,  "The  Orpheum  opens  in  five  minutes; 
let's  go,"  they  went. 

There  is  a  story  told,  with  many  non-essential  variations,  of  how 
General  Garfield  checked  the  formation  of  a  mob  in  New  York  during 
the  Civil  War.  It  was  the  night  of  Lincoln's  assassination.  A  great 
crowd  had  gathered  in  City  Hall  Park,  which  threatened  every  moment 
to  become  a  mob,  likely  to  vent  its  wrath  upon  certain  "copperhead" 
newspapers.  General  Garfield  was  asked  to  try  to  quiet  the  crowd. 
Stepping  out  on  a  balcony,  he  stood  with  upraised  hands  in  full  sight 
of  the  crowd,  which  surged  over  to  hear  his  news.     This  was  the  news: 

"  'Clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about  him; 

Righteousness  and  judgment  are  the  habitations  of  his  throne.'^ 

"Fellow  citizens!  God  reigns  and  the  government  at  Washington 
still  lives!" 

The  crowd  dispersed  and  the  danger  was  over.  The  familiar,  sacred 
words,  with  their  great  image,  caught  the  crowd,  and  held  them  long 
enough  to  enable  them  to  receive  the  assurance  that  a  greater  than  Lin- 
coln was  still  in  power,  and  that  the  government  did  not  fall  even  with 
the  beloved  President. 

According  to  Le  Bon^  the  mob  is  conservative.  While 
it  seems  to  be  tearing  down,  it  is  fighting  against  change, 
for  hereditary  ideas  and  institutions.  A  student  mob 
would  be  found  in  revolt  against  the  destruction  of 
a  tradition.  Since  a  mob  cannot  think,  it  cannot  receive  a 
new  idea,  jjippeal  to  ajnob,  then,  in  the  name  of  the  old, 
the  establisiied.     Appeal  to  any  loyalty  to  institutions 

^Psalms.  97:2. 
^The  Crowd,  p.  39. 


296  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

members   of  the   mob   may  possess, — to  party,   college, 
city,  country,  or  family.   / 

The  mob  is  vain  and  'i\'ill  accept  unlimited  flattery 
as  to  its  high  character  and  purposes.  Remember,  too, 
that  a  mob  may  be  turned  to  good  deeds  as  well  as  to 
foul,  if  the  better  idea  can  be  struck  into  its  imagination. 
The  mob  is  cowardly,  and  may  be  put  to  flight  by  a  cry 
of  "Fire,"  or  "Police;"  but  may  be  galvanized  into  heroism 
by  the  right  leader.  It  admires  courage.  It  must  be 
faced  boldly;  any  sign  of  weakness,  any  attempt  to  beg 
it  to  be  good,  will  be  derided.  Napoleon,  when  an 
almost  unknown  youth,  cowed  with  a  threat  of  grape 
shot,:  the  fierce  mob  that  had  ruled  Paris. 

Since  the  most  striking  characteristic  of  a  mob  is  the 
loss  of  individuality,  try  to  restore  this  feeling  to  the  nat- 
ural leaders.  Appeal,  if  it  be  possible,  to  their  sense  of 
duty  and  of  personal  dignity.  Call  upon  them  by  name 
to  step  forward  and  commit  themselves  in  plain  words. 
If  possible,  get  these  men  formed  into  a  committee  to 
detern^ine  action. 

But!  usually  the  mob  demands  immediate  action.] 
The  leader  may  be  able  to  suggest  another  and  more 
attractive  course,  but  one  which  ^^^ll  result  in  delay. 
This  is  the  easier  because  a  mob  is  remarkable  for  credulity, 
and  does  not  distinguish  between  the  possible  and  the 
impossible.  If  the  mob  is  bent  on  revenge,  suggest  a  more 
terrible  revenge.  By  any  means  get  delay;  for  in  most 
cases  the  mob  feeling  does  not  last  long^  "Sensations  of 
hunger,  cold,  and  weariness  l^ecome  so  insistent  as  to 
distract  attention."^  To  move  an  adjournment  for  dinner, 
or  to  await  the  coming  of  a  popular  speaker,  or  for  some 
other  attractive  purpose,  is  a  standard  method  of  prevent- 
ing a  convention  from  escaping  the  control  of  its  leaders. 

^Ross,  Social  Psychology,  p.  54. 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  297 

Suggestion,  Crowds,  and  Ethics.  When  we  consider 
the  means  of  controUing  men  w^ithout  convincing  them 
intellectually,  we  are  impressed  with  the  serious  moral 
responsibility  involved;  but  we  may  well  remember  that 
to  influence  others  is  a  serious  responsibility,  whatever 
the  methods  employed.  Even  when  men  are  controlled 
by  logical  argument  there  is  the  same  possibility  that  the 
weaker  will  be  ruled  by  the  stronger  to  their  hurt;  for 
by  assuming  false  premises  and  facts,  one  may  be  as 
logical  as  Aristotle  and  as  false  as  Beelzebub.  We  must 
remember,  too,  as  already  stated,  that  there  are  times 
when  logical  argument  can  have  little  to  do  with  per- 
suasion; as  when  conviction  already  exists  but  conduct 
is  not  in  accord  for  lack  of  sufficient  impulse,  or  when  men 
are  in  conditions  which  incapacitate  them  for  reasoning. 

There  are  treatises  that,  picture  men  as  always  acting 
in  the  light  of  pure  reason  and  from  the  highest  motives. 
If  any  student  were  so  gullible  as  to  accept  such  teachings, 
he  would  be  but  slightly  equipped  for  moral  conflict. 
He  must  understand  human  nature.  Persuasion  is  a 
practical  matter;  and  we  must  take  men  as  they  are; 
and  they  are,  in  meetings  and  about  their  affairs,  influenced 
by  suggestion  as  well  as  by  reason.  I  do  not  mean  to 
imply  that  ideals  should  not  guide  us  in  this  practical 
matter;  but  I  do  mean  that  facts  must  be  faced.  What 
use  a  speaker  may  make  of  his  power  will  depend  upon 
what  kind  of  a  man  he  is.  The  man  who  is  unscrupulous 
off  the  platform  will  be  unscrupulous  on  the  platform. 
The  honest  speaker  needs  large  knowledge  of  the  springs 
of  human  action,  if  only  that  he  may  checkmate  the  dis- 
honest speakers  who  may  oppose  him.  "Be  ye  therefore 
wise  as  serpents,  and  harmless  as  doves." 

One  cannot  touch  this  subject  of  crowd  control  without 
feeling  the  inadequacy  of  a  brief  treatment,  or  of  any 
treatment.     One  recognizes,  too,  the  danger  that  a  stu- 


^98  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

(lent  ni<ay  become  fascinated  by  the  subject  of  suggestion 
and  make  too  much  of  it;  and  tlie  further  danger  that  a 
little  knowledge  of  it  may  produce  an  unwholesome  dis- 
respect for  audiences.  But  this  last  danger  is  likely  to  be 
offset  by  practical  experience ;  for  the  young  speaker  who 
deals  with  the  a^'erage  American  audience,  believing  that 
he  can  manipulate  them  as  he  will  and  that  they  will  not 
see  through  his  tricks  and  fallacies,  is  in  line  for  some 
highly    beneficial    shocks. 

Those  who  wish  to  follow  up  the  subject  of  suggestion  and  crowds 
may  do  so  in  the  works  referred  to  in  the  preceding  pages.  It  is  to  be 
said  of  the  works  of  Le  Bon  and  Sidis  that  they  are  far  too  cynical  in 
their  view  of  human  natm-e,  and  that  their  conclusions  seem  to  be  based 
too  much  upon  such  times  of  excitement  as  that  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. All  writers  on  suggestion,  indeed,  are  likely  to  overemphasize 
its  importance  and  to  overlook  other  important  truths.  Ross's  works 
are  in  popular  vein,  but  should  prove  helpful.  In  his  preface  to  Social 
Psychology  he  emphasizes  the  truth  that  all  theories  upon  the  subject 
are  in  an  unsettled  state.  McDougall's  Social  Psychology  will  be  found 
as  reliable  as  any,  but  he  devotes  little  space  to  suggestion  and  crowds. 
Many  of  the  most  authoritative  psychologists  say  little  or  nothing  of 
these  topics;  first,  perhaps,  because  they  are  not  dwelling  on  the  social 
aspects  of  their  science,  and,  secondly,  because  they  feel  the  topics  are 
not  ripe  for  strict  scientific  statement.  Scott's  Influencing  Men  in  Busi- 
ness has  probably  the  best  popular  comparison  of  suggestion  and  argu- 
ment. This  work  and  his  books  on  advertising  will  be  found  useful 
and  better  than  his  book  on  public  speaking,  though  this  is  well  worth 
reading. 

Practical  Suggestions.  The  student  of  this  chapter 
should  be  making  persuasive  speeches,  taking  up  subjects 
which  permit  of  genuine  attempts  to  influence  conduct, 
and  which  call  less  for  convincing  the  audience  of  the 
desirability  of  action  than  for  moving  to  action.  He  will 
profit,  also,  by  studying  persuasive  speeches;  and  for  our 
present  purpose,  he  should  select  speeches  which  have 
overcome  passive  rather  than  active  opposition.  Both 
in   preparing   and   in  studying  persuasive  speeches,  the 


INFLUENCING  CONDUCT  299 

student  should  give  special  attention  to  the  situation  to 
be  met,  precisely  what  is  to  be  overcome;  and  then  to 
the  means.  Experience  shows  that  this  suggestion  needs 
emphasis.  A  by  no  means  unique  instance  was  that  of  a 
student  preparing  a  speech  in  favor  of  national  prohibi- 
tion, without  considering  whether  he  would  address  those 
who  believed  in  prohibition,  those  who  did  not  believe  in 
it,  or  those  who  believed  prohibition  a  good  thing  but 
impracticable. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  kept  in  mind  especially 
persuasion  in  those  cases  in  which  our  hearers  offer  only 
passive  opposition.  In  this  chapter  we  shall  give  especial 
attention  to  cases  in  which  there  is  more  active  opposition, 
due  to  intelligent  doubt,  contrary  conviction,  opposing 
interests,  or  prejudice.  It  does  not  seem  vdse  to  attempt 
any  sharp  distinction  between  the  problems  considered 
in  the  preceding  chapter  and  in  this;  and  it  should  be 
understood  that  the  suggestions  of  either  chapter  are, 
in  great  part,  applicable  to  the  problems  of  the  other. 
I  Our  primary  study  in  this  chapter  is  how  to  win  be- 
lief, either  as  an  end  in  itself,  or  as  a  preliminary  to  action;  I 
and  on  investigation  we  find  we  are  facing  the  familiar 
problem  of  securing  exclusive  attention.  *'The  m®st 
compendious  possible  formula  perhaps,"  says  James, ^ 
"would  be  that  our  belief  and  attention  are  the  same  fact. 
For  the  moment,  what  we  attend  to  is  reality."  Again, 
James  says^  belief  "resembles  more  than  anything  what 
in  the  psychology  of  volition  we  know  as  consent.  .  .  . 
What  characterizes  both  consent  and  belief  is  the  cessa- 
tion of  theoretic  agitation,  through  the  advent  of  an  idea 
which  is  inwardly  stable,  and  fills  the  mind  solidly  to 
the  exclusion  of  contradictory  ideas."  To  secure  the 
desired  state  of  attention  we  may  have  to  argue  away 
doubts,  change  convictions,  and  win  from  prejudice  the 
grace  of  a  fair  hearing. 

Does  not  this  statement  of  theory  square  with  experi- 
ence?    Does  not  making  up  your  mind  after  a  struggle 

^Psychology,  Vol.  II,  322.         ^Idem,  p.  283. 

300 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  301 

seem  very  like  shutting  your  mental  eyes  to  all  conclusions 
but  one,  or  to  the  reasons  for  them,  whether  you  do  this 
arbitrarily  or  because  your  judgment  advises  that  this  is 
the  better  course?  Perhaps  you  have  had  a  struggle 
over  which  is  the  best  college,  or  the  best  fraternity; 
or  whether  the  Germans  or  the  Allies  are  in  the  right. 
Once  the  question  is  settled,  you  may  later  wonder  why 
you  were  ever  in  doubt.  One  cause  of  this  is,  that  after  the 
decision  is  made  you  refuse  to  give  other  possible  decisions 
a  square  look,  and  that  while  you  eagerly  admit  new  rea- 
sons to  support  your  decision^^'ou  refuse  to  consider 
fairly  reasons  against  it.  If  you  ha^e  "let  the  worse  appear 
the  better  reason,"  and  remain  at  all  open-minded,  the 
dishonored  better  reason  may  return  to  vex  you.  With 
the  mentally  honest  an  opinion  is  never  in  stable  equilib- 
rium unless  it  is  founded  on  sound  reasoning;  but  with 
such  questions  as  those  instanced  we  rarely  give  attention 
to  the  possibility  of  mistake. 

It  will  prove  suggestive,  especially  for  advanced  students,  to  consider 
this  doctrine  further.  We  may  notice  that,  in  the  words  of  Bain,  "We 
believe  everything  that  comes  into  the  mind  unopposed;"  or  as  Pills- 
bury  says,^  "i\nything  that  enters  the  mind  is  normally  accepted  as 
true  at  once."  Belief  is  passive;  doubt  is  active.  The  child  believes 
all  it  is  told;  doubt  comes  as  the  result  of  experience.  If  an  opinion 
is  suggested  so  that  it  arouses  no  opposition,  it  is  accepted.  But  if 
doubts  do  arise,  or  contrary  opinions  already  exist,  then  these  must  be 
driven  from  mind  in  order  to  win  for  the  doubted  or  rejected  opinion 
exclusive  attention.  "I  can  find  in  a  moment  of  belief,"  says  Pillsbury,^ 
"nothing  but  the  stable  persistence  of  the  idea  or  state  that  is  believed." 
To  the  end  of  giving  ideas  "stable  persistence"  in  the  minds  of  others, 
all  the  methods  and  means  of  argumentation  should  tend. 

Pillsbury  lays  great  stress^  upon  the  truth  that  belief  depends  upon 
experience,  and  illustrates  with  the  following,  which  both  bears  upon 
the  point  under  discussion  and  furnishes  a  good  point  of  view  for  the 
study  of  argumentation.     (Italics  are  mine.) 

'^Psychology  of  Reasoning,  p.  31.  Hdem,  p.  57.  ^Psychology  of 
Reasoning,  p.  38. 


302  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

"One  may  believe  in  socialism  if  one  considers  the  evident  disparity 
between  the  rewards  of  individuals  who  may  be  regarded  as  of  the  same 
ability  or  as  of  the  same  degree  of  desert.  One  is  firmly  opposed  to 
socialism  when  men  are  regarded  as  essentially  very  different  in  ability, 
and  ability  and  desert  are  identified.  .  .  Just  so  long  as  the  two  sets 
of  experiences  fluctuate  before  the  mind,  one  will  be  in  doubt  as  to  which 
of  the  abstract  principles  is  more  desirable.  When  one  persists,  it  is  by 
that  very  fact  believed.  .  .  .  And  individuals  will  be  predominantly 
individualistic  or  socialistic  as  life  as  a  whole  has  presented  the  advan- 
tages or  the  disadvantages  of  the  present  individualistic  society.  .  .  . 
We  have  a  belief  in  one  theory  or  the  other  just  so  long  as  one  set  of 
experiences  predominate  in  consciousness;  doubt  enters  when  there  is 
rivalry  between  two  sets  of  experience." 

i"One  can  change  the  belief  of  any  individual  either  by  giving  him  new 
and  different  experiences,or  by  so  presenting  a  statement  that  it  shall  arouse 
a  different  set  of  experiences  to  pass  upon  the  statement.  Both  methods 
are  applied  in  practical  argumentation.  The  effectiveness  of  a  plea 
depends  upon  the  success  with  which  new  groups  of  experiences  can  be 
aroused  to  give  the  attitude  desired.  When  the  attitude  is  properly 
aroused  belief  follows  as  a  matter  of  course." 

Persuasion  and  Belief,  i  We  decidedin-iliekist  chapter 
to  apply  ^thejerm,  persuasion  to  the  process  of  inducing 
others  to  give  fair,  favorable,  or  exclusive  attention  to 
propositions.  We  shall  readily  see  that|  persuasion  is 
important  in  changing  behef  J  I  In  seeking  to  give  ideas 
"stable  persistence"  in  the  minds  of  others,  we  try, 
when  necesssary,  to  change  the  emotional  attitude  of 
those  others,  to  the  end  that  there  may  be  willingness 
to  listen  at  all,  that  there  may  be  an  open-minded  recep- 
tion of  our  arguments,  and  a  willingness  or  even  a  desire 
to  believe;  and  we  also  employ  logical  arguments  which 
furnish  grounds  for  accepting  the  belief  we  urge,  and  which 
ser^'e  to  drive  opposing  arguments  from  the  hearer's 
mind,  so  w^eakening  and  discrediting  them  that  if  they 
return  they  will  be  received  with  scant  respect!  No  hard 
and  fast  distinction  should  be  understood  here,  only  an 
emphasizing  of  the  fact  that  there  may  be  tWQ  phases 
of  one  process.  With  that  warning,  we  may  say  that 
reason  presents  sound  arguments,  and  persuasion  wins 
attention  and  acceptance  for  them.  I    That  the  distinc- 

^Psychology  of  Reasoning,  p.  53. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  303 

tion  is  not  strict  is  e^4dent  from  the  fact  that  sound  argu- 
ments are  in  themselves  an  important  means  of  winning 
attention. 

The  Importance  of  Logical  Argument.  I  shall  not  in 
this  text  attempt  a  systematic  treatment  of  argument 
in  the  stricter  sense;  but  shall  leave  that  to  the  many 
excellent  works  on  logic  and  argumentation.  Such  topics 
as  the  rules  of  evidence,  fallacies,  the  analysis  and  briefing 
of  arguments,  will  receive  only  incidental  attention, 
while  I  shall  give  space  chiefly  to  the  adaptation  of  argu- 
ments to  audiences,  a  matter  which  is  the  very  essence  of 
persuasion. 

Yet  while  I  prefer  not  to  give  here  a  necessarily  brief 
and  mferior  treatment  of  logical  argument,  but  to  em- 
phasize the  means  of  gaining  a  hearing  for  one's  logic  and 
facts,  I  do  not  wish  even  to  suggest  that  sound  logic  may 
be  ignored,  or  that  the  phases  of  the  subject  here  dis- 
cussed are  in  any  way  inconsistent  with  logic.  Rather  I 
would  impress  upon  all  students  of  public  speech  thef  im- 
portance 9f  sound  logical  argument,  based  upon  facts 
and  the  most  rigorous  analysis.!  This  there  should  be 
although  the  circumstances  of  a  speech  do  not  admit  of 
detailed  statement  of  its  logical  basis.  In  the  first  place, 
a  speaker  owes  a  high  duty  to  himself  and  to  his  audience 
to  determine  and  to  speak  the  truth  as  best  he  can.  He 
can  ne^^er  tell  how  far  bis  most  casual  word  may  reach. 
In  the  second  place,  expediency  coincides  with  duty.  In 
most  assemblies  the  stronger  minds  control;  In  all  commu- 
nities, in  the  long  run,  they  formulate  opinions  and  deter- 
mine action.  And  these  stronger  thinkers  resent  an  attempt 
to  control  them  against  their  judgment.  They  will  not 
often  cease  questioning  and  balancing  arguments,  and 
yield  their  undivided  attention,  until  the  demands  of 
reason  have  been  satisfied.  If  a  triumph  is  gained  in 
defiance  of  i*eason,  reason  will  reassert  itself.     We  shall 


304  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

see  that  emotion  has  much  to  do  with  determining  what 
are  good  reasons;  but  sound  reasoning  cannot  be  safely 
ignored. 

I  spoke  of  AVendell  Phillips's  triumph  in  making  a  conservative, 
cultured  audience  applaud  Nihilism.  His  triumph,  however,  was  more 
amusing  than  lasting.  A  few  hours  later  his  hearers  were  indignant 
at  what  they  considered  a  trick.  On  the  evening  of  the  same  day, 
"Charles  Eliot  made  a  forcible  and  eloquent  five-minute  speech  at  the 
dinner,  vigorously  rejecting  Phillips's  doctrine  and  exposing  the  essential 
fallacy  of  his  discourse." 

There  is  hkely  to  be  someone  at  hand  to  expose  the 
man  who  attempts  to  befog  reason;  if  not  another  speaker 
on  the  same  occasion,  or  on  a  later  occasion,  it  may  be 
a  newspaper  writer,  or  some  hard-headed  man  on  the 
street  or  in  the  club,  who  will  expose  the  bad  argument 
next  day.  Opponents  will  seize  upon  every  weak  link  in 
one's  logic,  or  whatever  can  be  made  to  seem  weak. 
Doubters  will  persistently  demand  "Why.'^"  and  "What 
is  the  evidence?"!  xVrgument,  to  be  surely  effective,  should 
be  at  once  persuasive  and  sound.  \ 

I  urge  upon  every  student  of  public  speaking,  as  an  important  founda- 
tion for  our  work,  the  thorough  study  of  the  analysis  of  propositions, 
the  briefing  of  arguments,  the  methods  of  detecting  and  exposing  fal- 
lacies, and  the  laws  of  evidence.  Such  studies  will  be  of  great  assistance 
in  all  branches  of  composition;  and,  indeed,  in  most  branches  of  learn- 
ing. I  am  not  now  speaking  of  college  debating,  though  this  intellectual 
sport,  properly  conducted,  can  be  made  a  valuable  training  for  the 
combats  of  courts  and  conventions. 

Emotion  in  Argument.  Having  said  so  much  on  the 
importance  of  sound  logic,  I  now  call  your  attention  to  the 
part  of  emotion  in  argument.  I  do  not  mean  in  befogged, 
illogical  argument,  but  in  clear,  logical  argument.  /  Let 
us  notice,  first,  that  in  dealing  with  those  practical  issues 
that  directly  affect  human  conduct,  the  very  basis  of 
argument  is  emotion;  or  as  we  noted  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  the  major  premise  of  such  an  argument  is  the 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  305 

expression  of  an  emotion.!  If  we  argue  that  the  square 
of  the  hypotenuse  of  a  riglit  triangle  is  equal  to  the  sum 
of  the  squares  of  the  other  two  sides,  we  have  pure  reason- 
ing, free  from  emotion;  but  when  we  take  up  the  propo- 
sition that  Congress  should  pass  the  immigration 
bill,  'involving  an  illiteracy  test,  over  the  President's 
veto,  we  are  constantly  dealing  with  emotions.  We  must 
assume  first  the  emotion  of  patriotism,  or  that  all  desire 
the  good  of  the  country.  As  we  proceed  we  find  ourselves 
meeting  with  emotions  involved  in  the  interests  of  labor 
and  of  corporations,  with  self-interest  and  the  love  of 
justice,  with  race  prejudices  and  loyalties,  with  the 
sentiment  that  America  should  remain  the  home  of  the 
oppressed,  with  pity  for  those  who  have  had  no  oppor- 
tunity for  education,  and  with  a  reluctance  on  the  part 
of  many  to  pass  a  measure  over  President  Wilson's  veto. 
If  we  looked  beneath  the  surface  of  newspaper  discussion, 
we  might  find  certain  religious  feelings  playing  an  active 
part  in  the  settlement  of  this  issue.  The  fact  that  some 
of  these  feelings  ought  not  to  influence  our  judgment  of 
the  ciuestion,  and  the  fact  that  none  of  them  should  be 
permitted  to  put  us  in  such  a  state  that  we  cannot  reason 
justly,  do  not  change  the  facts  that  an  argument  on  the 
issue  impinges  upon  emotion  at  every  point,  that  some  of 
these  emotions  are  necessary'  to  a  proper  solution,  and 
that  any  one  or  several  of  them,  good  and  bad,  may 
be  dominating  the  minds  of  your  hearers  as  you  address 
them.  The  question  selected  is  far  from  an  extreme 
instance,  as  you  will  see  if  you  think  for  a  moment  of  such 
questions  as  intercollegiate  athletics,  modern  dancing, 
woman's  suffrage,  and  blame  for  tlie  European  war. 
I  In  the  second  place,  "^e  notice  with  regard  to  the 
mfluence  of  emotion  on  argument,  the  strong  tendency 
of  men  to  believe  what  they  wish  to  believe.  \  ^'*Will 
^Pillsbury,  Psychology  of  Reasoning,  p.  54. 


306  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

and  belief  are  undoubtedly  common  products  of  the  same 
deeper  b'ing  forces.  Whatever  appeals  to  us  strongly 
enough  to  tempt  us  to  desire  to  believe,  by  the  very  same 
appeal  compels  belief."  Experience  declares,  "A  man 
convinced  against  his  will  is  of  the  same  opinion  still. "^ 
Almost  as  famous  is  the  saying  attributed  to  a  Scotchman, 
"I  am  quite  open  to  conviction,  Sandy,  but  I  should  like 
to  see  the  man  who  can  convince  me."  This  tendency  to 
believe  what  we  wish  to  believe  is  encouraged  by  the  fact 
that,  with  reference  to  questions  at  all  debatable,  there  are 
reasons,  usually  good  reasons,  in  support  of  either  alterna- 
tive. One  can  arrive  at  a  decision  only  by  weighing  the 
opposing  arguments.  Now,  if  he  wishes  to  arrive  at  a 
certain  conclusion,  the  arguments  for  it  seem  weighty 
and  those  in  opposition  very  light.  He  is  likely  to  refuse 
credence  to  witnesses  and  authorities  against  the  de- 
sired conclusion.  He  may  even  refuse  to  listen  to  opposing 
arguments;  or  he  may  listen  in  an  attempt  to  be  fair, 
but  with  a  subconscious  determination  to  discredit  what 
he  hears,  saying  all  the  while,  That  is  not  true;  That  is 
not  important;  or,  That  is  insufficient.  In  other  words, 
he  refuses  fair  attention. 

No  doubt  you  are  a  highly  reasonable  person;  still  if  you  were  ta 
learn  that  your  deceased  uncle  had  cut  you  off  from  an  expected  legacy, 
you  might  find  it  easy  to  believe  the  old  man  non  compos  mentis  when 
he  executed  his  will.  Learning  later  that  he  had  added  a  codicil  in  your 
favor,  you  might  find  no  difficulty  in  believing  that  at  the  approach 
of  death  his  mind  cleared.  We  expect  to-day  to  find  men  of  German 
parentage  pro-German  in  their  opinions  about  the  war,  and  men  of 
English  parentage  pro-English.  We  say,  "Their  sympathies  are  natur- 
ally that  way."  We  may  give  many  logical  reasons  for  our  positions, 
but  how  many  are  there  among  us  who  take  pride  in  our  trained  minds, 
who  determined  our  attitude  toward  this  war  by  impartial  reasoning? 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  asserting  that  a  man  will  or  can 
believe  whatever  he  wishes  to  believe.     Evidence  maj^  be  too  strongly 

^Cf.  Cassar,  Gallic  War,  Book  III,  Ch.  18:  Fere  libenter  homines^ 
quod  volunt,  credunt. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  307 

against  desire.  We  say  at  times  we  are  afraid  to  believe  this  or  that, 
or  that  a  certain  behef  is  too  good  to  be  true.  However,  when  a  man  does 
not  follow  his  desire  to  believe,  the  reason  will  usually  be  that  another 
emotion  intervenes;  his  thinking  is  guided  by  a  strong  love  of  truth,  or  he 
is  held  back  by  a  fear  of  the  consequences  of  a  mistake.  So  he  resists 
the  tempting  belief  by  holding  attention  upon  the  reasons  against  it.^ 

In  practical  speaking  instances  of  the  effect  of  desire 
upon  judgment  are  common  enough.  We  find  only  too 
many  instances  of  juries  led  by  their  sympathies  to  ignore 
the  plain  purport  of  the  evidence.  It  is  my  belief  that  in 
these  cases  the  jurors  rarely  consciously  violate  their 
oaths,  but  that  their  desires  control  them  in  selecting 
and  rejecting  evidence* 

I  sat  as  a  spectator,  with  a  slight  bias  toward  the  prosecution,  through 
the  trial  of  a  young  woman  for  the  killing  of  her  husband.  The  case 
for  the  defense  was  the  bad  character  of  the  victim,  (worked  into  the 
evidence  in  spite  of  the  rules,)  and  "emotional  insanity,"  testified  to 
by  several  sisters,  a  weeping  mother  and  a  pathetic  old  father,  who, 
one  all  the  time  hoped,  would  make  out  a  good  case,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  they  were  palpably  straining  the  truth.  The  summing  up  of  the 
astute  attorney  for  the  defense  presented  briefly  an  argument  which, 
had  it  been  based  upon  established  facts,  would  have  justified  an  acquit- 
tal, and  a  long  address  to  the  sympathies  of  the  jury,  closing  with, 
"Give  her  back  to  her  mother."  The  jury,  apparently  an  intelligent 
body  of  men,  rendered  a  verdict  of  not  guilty,  in  spite  of  damning 
testimony  which  they  must  have  refused  to  remember.  And  I  felt 
that  no  jury,  though  it  were  drawn  from  the  district  attorney's  oflSce 
itself,  would  have  rendered  a  verdict  of  murder  in  the  first  degree, 
so  strongly  would  they  have  wished  to  believe  in  the  "brain  storm." 

If  there  is  any  place  where  all  save  pure  logical  argument  would  seem 
to  be  out  of  place,  it  is  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States; 
yet  even  there  argument  contains  more  than  law,  facts  and  logic,  and 
lawyers  take  into  consideration  the  tendencies,  the  feelings,  even  the 
prejudices,  of  the  justices.  When  Webster  argued  the  Dartmouth 
College  Case,  at  a  time  when  the  Court  contained  such  men  as  Marshall 
and  Story,  he  was  swept  at  the  end  into  an  undoubtedly  sincere  outburst 
of  feeling  for  his  college: 

"Sir,  you  may  destroy  this  little  institution;  it  is  weak;  it  is  in  your 
hands!     I  know  it  is  one  of  the  lesser  lights  in  the  literary  horizon  of  our 

^Cf.  Camille  Bos,  Psychologie  de  la  Croyance,  p.  81. 


308  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

country.  You  may  put  it  out.  But,  if  j^ou  do  so,  you  must  carry 
through  your  work!  You  must  extinguish,  one  after  another,  all  those 
greater  lights  of  science,  which  for  more  than  a  century,  have  thrown  their 
radiance  over  our  land! 

"It  is,  sir,  as  I  have  said,  a  small  college,  and  yet  there  are  those  who 
love  it. 

"Sir,  I  know  not  how  others  may  feel  [glancing  at  the  opposing  attor- 
neys,] but  for  myself,  when  I  see  my  Alma  Mater  surrounded,  like 
C  sesar  in  the  Senate  house,  by  those  who  are  reiterating  stab  after  stab, 
I  would  not,  for  this  right  hand,  have  her  turn  to  me  and  say,  Et  tu 
quojue,  mi  fili!     And  thou  too,  my  son!" 

An  eyewitness  wrote: 

"The  court-room  during  those  two  or  three  minutes  presented  an 
extraordinary  spectacle.  Chief  Justice  Marshall  with  his  tall  gaunt 
figure,  bent  over  to  catch  even  the  slightest  whisper,  the  deep  furrows 
of  his  cheeks  expanded  with  emotion,  and  his  eyes  suffused  with  tears; 
Mr.  Justice  Washington  at  his  side,  .  .  .  leaning  far  forward  with 
an  eager  troubled  look;  and  the  remainder  of  the  court  at  the  two 
extremities,  pressing,  as  it  were,  toward  a  single  point,  while  the  audience 
below  were  wrapping  themselves  around  in  closer  folds  beneath  the  bench 
to  catch  each  look  and  every  feature  of  the  speaker's  face." 

The  court  did  not  pronounce  its  decision  until  after  the  summer 
recess;  but  it  is  believed  that  the  strong  desire  created  in  its  members 
led  them  to  render  a  decision  which  w^as  bad  law,  and  which  has  been 
used  to  serve  the  ends  of  corporate  injustice  ever  since.  It  is  a  legal 
proverb  that  "Hard  cases  make  bad  laws,"  which  is  only  a  way  of  saying 
that  the  sympathies  of  courts  lead  them  to  unsound  decisions. 

I  have  not  cited  these  instances  to  justify  them;  but 
because  I  wish  to  represent  human  nature  as  it  is,  and  be- 
cause I  wish  to  impress  the  truth  that  (while  attempts 
at  befogging  judgment  by  means  of  emotion  are  not  justifi- 
able, we  cannot  ignore  our  hearers'  emotional  attitude, 
and  that  if  it  be  against  us  .we  can  make  little  head- 
way with  the  soundest  logic.  But  frequently  I  am  told 
by  my  students,  "Men  oughl?  not  to  be  influenced  in 
their  thinking  by  their  emotions  and  prejudices."  No 
one  is  stricter  with  other  people's  thinking  than  your 
sophomore.  He  himself  is  open-minded  in  regard  to 
those  subjects  in  which  he  has  a  purely  intellectual 
interest;  but  hear  him  argue  on  "activities,"  wom- 
en's suffrage,  or  religion!  At  any  rate,  the  question 
is  not  how  men  should  think,  but  how  they  do  think. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  309 

These  are  the  words  of  a  practical  idealist,  Woodrow 
Wilson  ■} 

"As  I  look  back  upon  the  past  of  the  South,  it  seems  to 
me  to  contain  that  best  of  dynamic  forces,  the  force  of 
emotion.  We  talk  a  great  deal  about  being  governed  by 
mind,  by  intellect,  by  intelligence,  in  this  boastful  day  of 
ours;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  don't  believe  that  one  man 
out  of  a  thousand  is  governed  by  his  mind. 

"Men,  no  matter  what  their  training,  are  governed  by 
their  passions,  and  the  most  we  can  hope  to  accomplish 
is  to  keep  the  handsome  passions  in  the  majority." 

After  all,  are  we  not  much  too  scornful  of  emotions.'^ 
It  is  true  that  men  are  often  governed  by  unjustified 
emotions ;  but  it  is  also  true  that  they  are  often  led  astray 
by  false  logic.  There  are  more  men  who  feel  truly  than 
there  are  who  reason  justly.  Even  Huxley,  who  held 
up  the  ideal  of  a  mind  which  is  a  "cold  logic  engine," 
wished  men  to  have  strong  emotions,  though  well  con- 
trolled.    So  eminent  a  scientist  as  Baldwin  has  written:^ 

"Neither  will  logic  satisfy  our  moral  or  aesthetic  de- 
mands, for  the  logically  true  is  often  immoral  and  hideous. 
It  is  well,  therefore,  to  write  large  the  truth  that  logical 
consistency  is  not  the  whole  of  reahty,  and  that  the 
revolt  of  the  heart  against  fact  is  often  as  legitimate  a 
measure  of  the  true  in  this  shifting  universe  as  is  the  cold 
denial  given  by  rational  conviction  to  the  vagaries  of 
casual  feeling." 

tin  the  third  place,  we~4eay^~4iot4ee  that  |  emotions  not 
belonging  to  the  argument  itself,  affect  decisions.  These 
may  arise  from  the  occasion.  The  audience  may  be 
enthusiastic  or  bored,  good  natured  or  angry.  Again, 
emotions  may  arise  from  the  relation  of  speaker  and 
audience.  They  may  feel  great  respect  for  him,  or  be 
pleased  by  his  manner,  his  friendliness  and  good  humor; 

^From  a  speech  to  the  New  York  Southern  Society  in  1910,  found  in 
Wood's  After-Dinner  Speeches,  p.  46. 
^Elements  of  Psychology,  p.  262. 


310  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

or  they  may  dislike  him  and  feel  resentment  or  suspicion. 
We  must  consider  what  manner  of  men  we  address,  what 
feelings  move  them,  and  how  opposition  may  be  abated 
and  a  mood  of  friendliness  and  candor  established. 

Not  over-scrupulous  lawyers  for  the  defense  in  criminal  cases  insinuate 
that  the  prosecution  has  been  unfair,  and  that  the  prosecuting  attorney 
is  trying  to  win  reputation  by  "railroading"  innocent  and  friendless 
young  men  to  prison.  And,  although  the  trick  is  old,  the  prosecuting 
attorney,  knowing  that  he  cannot  safely  ignore  the  prejudice  created 
in  the  minds  of  the  jury,  labors  to  convince  them  of  his  fairness  and 
to  destroy  the  sympathy  created  for  the  defendant. 

When  the  defendant's  attorney  in  the  famous  Captain  Joseph  WTiite 
murder  case  sought  to  prejudice  the  jury  by  insinuating  that  Webster 
had  been  engaged  by  the  State  to  hurry  them  against  the  law  and  beyond 
the  evidence,  Webster  made  it  his  first  business  in  summing  up  to 
remove  the  prejudice  created.  He  commented  first  on  his  lack  of 
experience  as  a  prosecutor,  and  proceeds: 

"I  hope  I  have  too  much  regard  for  justice  and  too  much  respect  for 
my  own  character,  to  attempt  either;  and  were  I  to  make  such  an 
attempt,  I  am  sure  that  in  this  court  nothing  can  be  carried  against 
the  law,  and  that  gentlemen,  intelligent  and  just  as  you  are,  are  not, 
by  any  power,  to  be  hurried  beyond  the  evidence.  .  .  .  Against 
the  prisoner  at  the  bar,  as  an  individual,  I  cannot  have  the  slighest 
prejudice.  I  would  not  do  him  the  slightest  injury  or  injustice.  But 
I  do  not  effect  to  be  indifferent  to  the  discovery  and  the  punishment  of 
this  deep  guilt." 

Webster  then  proceeded  to  that  terrible  picture  of  the  cowardly  stab- 
bing of  a  gentle  old  man  in  his  sleep,  removing  any  disposition  in  the  jury 
to  let  pity  obscure  duty,  and  continues  with  an  introduction  that  fills 
thirteen  pages,  preparing  the  jury  emotionally  for  a  fair  consideration 
of  his  argument,  before  he  takes  up  the  evidence.  One  studying  this 
speech  will  find  many  places  in  which  he  shows  consciousness  of  the 
danger  from  sympathy  and  prejudice;  for  instance,  in  the  careful  way 
in  which  he  intimates  to  the  jury  the  probability  that  the  defendant's 
old  father  was  untrustworthy  in  his  testimony,  and  again  in  his  solemn 
exhortation  to  the  jury  at  the  close. 

This  speech,  which  will  repay  study,  will  be  found  in  full  in  McEwan's 
Essentials  of  Argumentation,  with  an  outline,  a  history  of  the  case,  and 
also  many  helpful  comments,  scattered  through  the  text. 

Prejudices  such  as  Webster  faced,  and  those  which  may 
arise  when  one  discusses   a  race  question,  sectional  or 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  311 

sectarian  questions,  women's  suffrage,  or  fraternities, 
are  fairly  tangible;  but  others  are  more  elusive.  Presi- 
dent LowelP  mentions  not  only  religious  intolerance  and 
racial  antipathy,  but  also,  "the  horror  of  the  man  of  an 
unfamiliar  form  of  worship,  the  instinctive  dislike  of 
the  man  who  speaks  a  different  tongue  or  pronounces 
his  words  in  a  strange  way,"  as  feelings  which  must  be 
taken  into  account  in  dealing  with  popular  opinion. 
The  mere  fact  that  a  man  comes  from  a  different  environ- 
ment, from  city  or  country,  that  he  is  wealthy,  that  he 
uses  "big"  words,  that  he  is  a  college  professor,  may 
affect  his  influence  either  favorably  or  unfavorably. 
The  fact  that  prejudice  is  politely  concealed  makes  it 
no  less  real.  Some  of  the  ladies  in  an  audience  may  think 
a  young  speaker,  "such  a  dear  boy,"  but  feel  that  his 
opinions  are  therefore  inconsequential;  others  may  be 
sure  he  thinks  himself  "mighty  smart."  Do  not  doubt 
that  the  fate  of  many  a  speech  is  determined  before  it  is 
begun. 

The  moral  of  the  preceding  discussion  is  this:  /In 
practical  argumentation  we  cannot  ignore  the  paru  of 
emotion  in  determining  belief;  we  must  take  account 
of  what  feelings  and  prejudices  are  moving  our  hearers; 
and  what  we  wish  men  to  believe,  it  is  wise  first  to  make 

tem  willing,  or  to  make  them  wish,  to  believe,  j 
,  The  Approach./  It  is  evident  that  in  our  efforts  to 
win  past  opposition  to  open-minded  attention,  much 
will  depend  upon  first  impressions.  It  was  Cicero  who 
said  that  the  purpose  of  an  introduction  is  reddere 
auditor es  benevolos,  attentos,  dociles,  which  has  been  well 
translated,  ]' to  render  the  hearers  well-disposed  toward 
the  speaker,  •.  attentive  toward  his  speech,  and  open  to 
conviction."  I  Genung  lays  much  stress^  on  the  "speaker's 

^Public  Opinion  and  Popular  Government,  p.  36. 
^Practical  Rhetoric,   p.  449. 


312  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

alliance  with  his  audience,"  a  phrase  worth  remembering. 
This  relationship  is  much  affected  by  the  characteristics 
of  the  speaker,  his  tact,  fairness,  courage,  sincerity, 
etc., — matters  which  will  be  treated  further  on.  We 
proceed  here  to  other  matters  important  to  winning  a  fair 
hearing  for  a  jjroposition.  ^ 

I  Avoid  a  Belligerent  Attitude./  If  a  speaker  hopes  to 
gain  the  sympathy  of  his  audience,  he  should  not  start 
a  fight  with  them  by  assuming  that  he  and  they  are 
necessarily  in  disagreement.  A  humorous  writer  makes 
a  character  say,  "Mother,  you  made  your  first  grand  mis- 
take in  running  Votes -for-Women  as  a  controversy.  It 
never  was.  It  is  not  now.  I  don't  know  a  man  in  my  set 
who  understands  yet  what  the  arguments  against  women's 
suffrage  are.  But  you  people  labelled  it  a  battle  and  we 
are  just  filling  in  the  mob  cues."  There  is  a  point  in  this 
exaggeration.  We  shall  usually  be  more  persuasive, 
and  also  more  just,  if  we  avoid  bitterness  and  denuncia- 
tion. A  student  speaking  before  a  class  which  contained 
many  whose  sympathies  lay  with  Germany  as  between 
her  and  the  allies,  made  an  effective  appeal  for  supporting 
President  Wilson  in  the  conflict  over  the  sinking  of  the 
Lusitania,  but  spoiled  the  effect  by  denouncing  the  Kaiser 
as  a  murderer. 

Here  is  a  speech  on  War,  which  starts  with  the  most  uncompromis- 
ing denunciation.  War  has  absolutely  no  justification.  The  general 
tone  of  the  speech  indicates  that  he  who  differs  is  a  fool  or  a  monster. 
The  speech  is  as  unreasoning  as  war  itself.  No  attempt  is  made  to  lead 
step  by  step  the  man  who  has  no  clearly  formed  opinion.  The  unfair- 
ness and  exaggeration  of  this  speech  fairly  force  one  into  opposition. 
Here  is  another  speech  urging  municipal  ownership  of  street  railways. 
The  would-be  orator  leaps  at  once  into  the  fiercest  denunciation  of  capital 
and  corporations;  and  with  slight  argument  urges  us  to  rise  in  our 
^^Tathful  manhood  and  resist  the  tyranny  of  five-cent  fares. 

There  is  a  time  for  denunciation,  but  that  time  is  not 
when  you  are  asking  your  audience  to  consider  fairly 


I 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  313 

a  proposal  not  yet  accepted.  When  one  is  addressing 
those  in  agreement,  for  the  purpose  of  arousing  them, 
denunciation  may  win  a  quick  success,  though  unlimited 
denunciation  is  rarely  just.  Its  effect  upon  those  in 
opposition  is  manifestly  unfortunate,  and  it  is  likely  to 
ause  neutrals  to  sympathize  with  those  denounced. 
Argument  is  the  most  usual,  and  certainly  the  most 
t'angible  method  of  changing  belief.  ^Mien  objections 
are  certainly  in  your  hearers'  mind,  the  best  way  usually 
is~lo^ecognize  them  and  answer  them  directly  and  boldly, 
though  not  belligerently.  I  Nevertheless,  conceal  it  as 
much  as  one  can,  there  is  still  in  argument  an  attempt 
to  overcome  that  provokes  resistance.  In  candid  minds 
this  is  largely  offset  by  their  loyalty  to  truth.  But  it  is 
quickened  by  the  attitude  we  call  "argumentative," 
especially  if  there  is  a  touch  of  triumph  in  it.  We  dislike 
one  who  relentlessly  proves  us  wrong  and  himself  alto- 
gether right.  Miss  Ida  Tarbell  somewhere  uses  a  sug- 
gestive phrase  in  speaking  of  a  certain  statesman:  "He 
is  a  convincing  speaker  whom  one  does  not  resent." 
i  This  tendency  to  resist  argument  is  of  course  stronger 
in  minds  not  candid,  either  in  general  or  with  reference 
to  a  particular  argument.  With  such  it  is  often  justifiable 
to  avoid  the  direct  onslaught  and  make  a  flank  attack. 
Sometimes  we  may  avoid  reference  to  controverted  points 
and  dwell  upon  propositions  less  likely  to  stir  opposition, 
but  whicji  involve  the  desired  conclusion./  One  might 
make  headway  with  women  more  strongly  tnan  thought- 
fully opposed  to  women's  suffrage,  by  avoiding  all  reference 
to  the  ballot  and  discussing  laws  which,  in  certain  states, 
discriminate  against  women.  Assuming  that  a  good  case 
can  be  made  out  and  resentment  awakened,  one  might 
find  the  anti-suffragists  themselves  demanding  the  ballot 
as  a  means  of  forcing  reform.  We  may  sometimes  merely 
suggest  the  desired  conclusion,  Jioping  that  it  will  stick  in 


314  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

memory  and  sometime  get  candid  consideration.  Some- 
times we  may  assume  assent  rather  than  argue  for  it. 
This  method  counts  upon  inertia;  a  man  who  would  not 
positively  assent,  may  fail  actively  to  reject. 

Better  than  to  argue  sometimes  is  just  to  describe  the 
conditions  to  which  your  proposal  relates,  u  The  influence 
of  Uncle  Toms  Cabin  surpassed  that  of  many  arguments, 
put  as  arguments.  Pages'  Red  Rock  ser^'ed  to  open  the 
eyes  of  Northern  readers  to  the  Southern  attitude  toward 
the  freedman.  The  most  effective  peace  speech  I  ever 
heard  was  in  form  only  a  description  of  the  fighting  in 
Belgium. 

If  those  who  at  this  time  are  trying  to  argue  American  opinion  into 
a  more  favorable  state  toward  Germany,  could  put  forward  a  champion 
who,  without  a  touch  of  the  rancorous  argumentativeness  v/hich  charac- 
terizes such  papers  as  The  Fatherland,  could  make  us  realize  Germany 
and  the  Germans,  not  the  men  of  "blood  and  iron,"  but  the  simple, 
homely,  likable  Germans,  could  make  us  realize  that  they  are  just 
folks,  not  merely  Uhlans  and  efficient  destructive  machines,  they  could 
win  a  hearing  for  their  genuine  arguments. 

Common  Ground,  j  Not  only  should  we  avoid  awaken- 
ing hostility ;  we  should  seek  an  alliance  with  our  audience 
by  getting  on  common  ground  with  themS  In  chapter  X 
we  considered  the  advantage  of  finding  a  common  ground 
of  interest,  and  leading  on  from  this,  in  accordance  with 
the  principle  of  derived  interest.  This  is  persuasive, 
as  are  nearly  all  the  means  of  winning  attention. 

We  like  a  person  who  shares  our  interests.  When  two 
persons  are  interested  in  the  same  sport,  study  or  business, 
each  is  likely  to  assume  that  the  other  is  a  proper  sort 
of  person,  wise  in  his  general  outlook.  Consider  how 
casual  acquaintances,  perhaps  on  a  railway  journey,  are 
drawn  together  by  discovering  that  they  have  the  same 
enthusiasms,  have  gone  through  the  same  experiences, 
even  the  same  ailments,  come  from  the  same  town, 
sprung  from  the  same  race,  have  gone  to  the  same  college, 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  315 

or  that  both  are  Republicans  or  Presbyterians.  Bonds  as 
strong  and  as  slight  as  these  draw  men  together  into  socie- 
ties holding  conventions  and  dinners.  Business  men  think 
it  worth  while  to  spend  a  little  time  in  getting  on  easy  terms 
with  a  stranger  with  whom  they  hope  to  do  business, 
by  talking  of  common  interests.  So  the  skillful  speaker 
may  break  the  ice  by  referring  to  common  interests, 
if  possible  those  which  will  form  a  natural  introduction 
to  his  theme. 

f  There  is  also  a  common  ground  of  feeling  to  be  con- 
sidered. While  in  most  cases  the  straightest  way  into  a 
subject  is  the  best  way,  at  times  it  is  advisable  to  spend 
a  few  minutes  in  bringing  the  audience  into  a  desired  mood. 
Finding  common  interests  helps  in  this.  The  awakening 
of  old  memories  may  serve,  or  emphasis  upon  common 
likes  and  dislikes  and  associations.  Stories  are  much 
used,  humorous  and  dramatic.  Hostility  cannot  survive 
the  sharing  of  a  common  emotion-  and  especially  is  it 
blown  away  by  a  gale  of  laughter,  i  In  using  any  device 
it  is  w^ell  to  consider:  (1)  Is  it  needM?  (2)  Am  I  giving 
too  much  time  to  it  ?  (3)  Can  I  make  my  story,  or  whatever 
is  used,  serve  also  the  purpose  of  opening  up  my  subject; 
or  can  I  make  the  proper  materials  of  my  speech,  as  the 
statement  of  conditions  to  be  treated,  serve  to  induce  the 
right  mood.? 

To  create  sympathy  is  the  sovereign  remedy  for  genuine  hostility. 
Suppose  a  defender  of  Austria-Hungary,  in  this  year  1915,  is  striving  to 
convince  a  hostile  audience  that  that  nation  was  right  in  its  ultimatum 
to  Servia.  He  knows  his  audience  will  not  listen  patiently  at  first 
to  his  arguments  based  on  the  assassination  of  the  crown  prince  and 
Servian  plotting  in  general.  He  therefore  reminds  us  in  some  detail 
of  how  the  blowing  up  of  the  Maine  incensed  us  against  Spain.  He  asks 
us  to  consider  the  effect  of  having  a  country  on  our  border  trying  con- 
stantly to  stir  up  one  section  of  the  United  States  against  another,  or 
inciting  the  members  of  one  race  to  revolt.  In  every  way  he  tries  to 
get  us  "to  put  ourselves  in  the  other  fellow's  place." 


316  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

\  There  is  also  a  common  ground  of  belief.  To  find  this, 
is  one  of  the  best  established  means  of  persuasion.'  In  the 
first  place,  better  feeling  results  from  the  discoveiH^  by  the 
audience  that  they  have  more  in  common  with  the  speaker 
than  was  supposed,  and  that  he  is  not  so  radical  or  so 
conservative  as  they  had  thought.  This  discovery  pre- 
pares the  way  for  the  belief  that  his  present  proposal 
is  not  impossible.  There  is  also  an  enjoyment  in  harmony 
of  views,  and  it  is  a  wrench  to  stop  agreeing  with  a  man 
with  whom  one  has  found  himself  agreeing.  Give  an 
audience  something  it  will  indorse  as  common  sense, 
and  once  the  heads  are  nodding  in  assent,  they  are  likely 
to  go  on  nodding.  The  assenting  mood  continues,  as 
by  easy  stages  the  speaker  leads  from  the  common  ground 
to  the  desired  position. 

Of  Wendell  Phillips's  Phi  Beta  Kappa  oration,  Barrett  Wendell  saysr^ 
"A  good  many  went  to  hear  him  v.'ith  much  curiosity  as  to  what  he 
might  say,  and  apprehension  that  they  might  have  to  disapprove  it 
by  silence  at  moments  which  to  less  balanced  minds  might  seem  to  call 
for  applause.  In  the  earlier  parts  of  his  oration  they  found  themselves 
agreeably  surprised:  he  said  nothing  to  which  they  were  unprepared 
to  assent,  and  what  he  said  he  said  beautifully.  They  listened  with 
relief  and  satisfaction.  When  the  moment  for  applause  came,  they 
cordially  applauded.  So  the  oration  went  on  with  increasing  interest 
on  the  part  of  the  audience.  Finally  when  some  fresh  moment  for 
applause  came,  they  applauded  as  a  matter  of  course. 

While  the  common  ground  may  be  used  in  a  somewhat 
sly  way,  do  not  suppose  it  is,  of  itself,  illegitimate.  If 
to  avoid  prejudice  and  to  bring  about  harmony  of  feeling 
so  that  fair-mindedness  shall  prevail,  is  right,  then  this 
method  is  right.  Usually  people  actually  differ  much 
less  than  they  suppose.  Unless  they  proceed  to  find  out 
what  they  agree  upon,  they  may  continue  to  differ  quite 
unnecessarily  and  develop  a  small  divergence  of  views 
into  a  bitter  combat.  Someone  has  said  that  there  never 
was  a  war  that  could  not  have  been  settled  by  two 
honest  men  come  together  for  frank  discussion. 

^English  Composition,  p.  243. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  317 

\Mien  Pat  went  to  Mike  and  said,  "Let's  talk  over  our  differences," 
the  wiser  Mike  replied,  "No,  let's  talk  over  our  agreements."  Mike's 
method  was  likely  to  lead  to  a  settlement;   Pat's  to  a  fight. 

A  speaker  addressing  a  meeting  of  his  own  political 
party,  seeking  to  win  them  to  his  views  on  a  party  prob- 
lem, has  no  difficulty  in  finding  common  ground  in  the 
general  beliefs  and  policies  of  the  party.  When  he  ad- 
dresses those  of  other  party  affiliations,  he  still  should 
have  no  difficulty;  for,  after  all,  fair-minded  men  of  all 
parties  agree  in  most  respects.  All  wash,  at  least  in  a 
general  way,  prosperity,  justice  for  all  men  and  defense 
of  the  national  honor.  Political  parties  differ  more  as 
to  method  than  as  to  principles.  All  wish  to  control  the 
trusts,  for  example,  but  how.^  Very  absurd  in  speeches 
designed  to  win  votes  from  other  parties,  are  asser- 
tions that  an  opposing  party  wishes  to  ruin  the  coun- 
try, like  the  reiterated  assertion  that  the  Cleveland  Democ- 
racy wished  to  sacrifice  the  country  to  the  interests  of 
England. 

Mr.  Job  Hedges,  Republican  candidate  for  Governor  of  New  York 
in  1912,  made  a  much  more  successful  campaign  than  seemed  possible 
under  the  circumstances.  His  aim  was  to  win  back  the  Progressives 
to  the  Republican  fold.  He  refrained  from  denunciation  of  the  new 
party,  such  as  was  common  in  that  year,  and  with  the  utmost  good  humor 
dwelt  much  upon  what  Republicans  and  Progressives  have  in  common. 

In  no  field  is  controversy  likely  to  be  more  bitter  than  in  the  religious, 
yet  nowhere  is  there  better  opportunity  for  getting  on  common  ground. 
A  Methodist  addressing  Methodists,  though  his  audience  contains 
representatives  of  all  the  dozens  of  sects  under  that  general  name,  has 
a  wide  field  of  common  interests,  aims  and  doctrines  to  select  from. 
No  matter  how  far  he  may  be  from  his  brethren  on  the  point  at  issue, 
he  knows  that  they  agree  on  a  general  system  of  doctrine  and  church 
polity,  and  that  he  can  appeal  confidently  to  John  Wesley  as  an  accepted 
authority.  If  he  addresses  an  audience  composed  of  representatives 
of  all  Protestant  churches,  he  still  knows  his  ground,  by  what  common 
aims,  beliefs  and  history  they  are  bound  together,  and  that  most  will 
respect  the  name  of  Luther.  If  he  seeks  to  win  both  Catholic  and 
Protestant,  he  still  has  the  advantage  of  a  large  common  ground  and  he 


318  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

can  depend  upon  a  common  allegiance  to  one  Founder.  And  likewise 
Jew  and  Gentile  have  a  common  foundation  in  the  Old  Testament. 

I  Finding  common  ground  is  helpful,  not  only  in  securing 
harmony  between  speaker  and  audience,  but  also,  as-4he 
preceding  example  suggests  J:  in  securing  a  desirable"  unity 
among  the  factions  of  the  audience  itself.  1  There  are  times 
when  the  common  ground  is  too  evident  to  need  develop- 
ment ;  yet  even  when  evident  there  may  be  wisdom  in 
dwelling  upon  it;  as  when  Webster  in  his  Reply  to  Hayne, 
knowing  that  sectional  feeling  in  his  audience  and  in  the 
country  was  running  high,  paused  to  say,  "Let  me  recur  to 
pleasing  recollections ;  let  me  indulge  in  refreshing  remem- 
brances of  the  past,"  and  went  on  to  remind  his  audience 
of  the  Revolutionary  days  when  Massachusetts  and  South 
Carolina  fought  shoulder  to  shoulder.  In  any  case  it  is 
%vise  for  the  speaker  to  think  out  the  boundaries  of  the 
common  ground  in  order  that  he  may  make  no  false 
assumptions. 

The  usefulness  of  the  common  ground  is  not  limited, 
though  it  is  most  conspicuous,  in  cases  where  antagonism 
exists.  Beecher  has  put  the  case  well.^  He  tells  how  as 
a  boy  he  never  hit  anything  wath  his  gun  until  his  father 
showed  him  how  to  take  careful  aim.  When  he  became 
a  preacher  he  failed  for  two  years  to  get  results  with  his 
sermons.  Then  he  reviewed  all  the  sermons  of  the  apostles : 

"And  I  studied  the  sermons  until  I  got  this  idea:  That 
the  apostles  were  accustomed  first  to  feel  for  a  ground 
on  which  the  people  and  they  stood  together;  a  common 
ground  where  they  could  meet.  Then  they  heaped  up  a 
large  number  of  the  particulars  of  knowledge  that  belonged 
to  everybody;  and  when  they  got  that  knowledge,  which 
everybody  would  admit,  placed  in  a  proper  form  before 
their  minds,  then  they  brought  it  to  bear  upon  them 
with  all  their  excited  heart  and  feeling.  That  was  the  first 
definite  idea  of  taking  aim  that  I  had  in  my  mind. 

^Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching,  p.  11. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  319 

*  "Now/ said  I, 'I  will  make  a  sermon  so.'  .  .  .  First 
I  sketched  out  the  things  we  all  know. 
And  in  that  way  I  went  on  with  my  'You  all  knows/ 
imtil  I  had  about  forty  of  them.  When  I  got  through 
with  that,  I  turned  round  and  brought  it  to  bear  upon 
them  with  all  my  might;  and  there  were  seventeen  men 
awakened  under  that  sermon.  I  never  felt  so  triumphant 
in  my  life.  I  cried  all  the  way  home.  I  said  to  myself: 
'Now  I  know  how  to  preach'." 

Explanations.  In  order  to  delimit  the  common  ground 
and  determine  how  much  is  agreed  upon  and  also  what  are 
the  real  points  at  issue,  it  is  often  necessary  tqf  clear  the 
ground  by  certain  explanations./  The  speaker's  proposal 
may  have  been  misunderstood,'  or  purposely  misrepre- 
sented; as  when  it  was  asserted  by  opponents  of  Mr. 
Roosevelt  in  1912  that  his  plan  for  the  "review  of  judicial 
decisions"  involved  the  determining  of  litigation  between 
individuals  by  the  public.  Racial  or  religious  prejudice 
may  have  been  awakened.  A  political  boss  attacked  for 
corruption  may  have  appealed  to  some  hoary  sectional 
animosity,  or  proclaimed  that  popular  government  and 
the  Constitution  are  in  peril. 

JTo  clear  the  ground  there  is  no  better  way,  in  many 
cases,  than  to  state  the  origin  and  history  of  the  question, 
thus  showing  why  it  has  come  before  us  and  just  what 
its  implications  are.  The  proposition  that  the  United 
States  has  no  right  to  let  American  ships  pass  through 
its  own  Panama  Canal  free  of  charge,  may  seem  to  be 
very  absurd;  but  if  a  speaker  who  wishes  to  argue  the 
affirmative  of  that  proposition,  puts  before  his  hearers 
the  history  of  the  question,  the  series  of  treaties  by  which 
w^e  acquired  the  right  to  build  the  canal  at  all,  the  ab- 
surdity "wall  disappear,  and  the  audience  will  probably  meet 
the  speaker  on  the  common  ground  of  our  obligation  to 
abide  by  our  treaties.  Then  the  issue  becomes  one  of  the 
construction  of  treaties,  which  can  be  calmly  discussed. 


320  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Lincoln  had  unusual  ability  in  arriving  at  a  clear  understanding  with 
his  audience,  and  this  seems  to  have  sprung  from  his  habit  of  mind  and 
method  of  preparation. 

An  intimate  friend  of  Lincoln  says  that  his  mind  "ran  back  behind 
facts,  principles,  and  all  things,  to  their  origin,  and  first  cause. 
.  .  .  Before  he  could  form  an  idea  of  anything,  before  he  would 
express  his  opinion  on  a  subject,  he  must  know  its  origin  and  history 
in  substance  and  quality,  in  magnitude  and  gravity."  We  can  see 
this  trait  of  Lincoln'?  working  out,  at  once  remorselessly  and  gleefully, 
in  the  introduction  to  his  famous  Cooper  Institute  speech: 

".  .  .  .  In  his  speech  last  Autumn  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  Senator 
Douglas  said: 

"  'Our  fathers,  when  they  framed  the  government  under  w'hich  we 
live,  understood  this  question  just  as  well,  and  even  better,  than  we  do 
now.' 

"I  fully  indorse  this,  and  adopt  it  as  a  text  for  this  discourse.  I  so 
adopt  it  because  it  furnishes  a  precise  and  an  agreed  starting-point 
for  a  discussion  between  the  Republicans  and  that  wing  of  the  Democ- 
racy headed  by  Senator  Douglas.  It  simply  leaves  the  inquiry: 
What  was  the  understanding  those  fathers  had  of  the  question  men- 
tioned? 

"What  is  the  frame  of  government  under  which  we  live.^  The  answer 
must  be,  'The  Constitution  of  the  United  States.'     .     . 

"Who  were  our  fathers  that  framed  the  Cojistitution.^  I  suppose  the 
'thirty-nine'  who  signed  the  original  instrument  may  be  fairly  called 
our  fathers  who  framed  that  part  of  the  present  government.     .     . 

"What  is  the  question  which,  according  to  the  text,  those  fathers 
understood  'just  as  well,  and  even  better,  than  we  do  now'.'  It  is  this: 
Does  the  proper  division  of  local  from  Federal  authority,  or  anything 
in  the  Constitution,  forbid  our  Federal  Government  to  control  as  to 
slavery  in  our  Federal  territories.^ 

"Upon  this.  Senator  Douglas  holds  the  affirmative,  and  Republicans 
the    negative.     This    affirmative    and    denial    form    an    issue.     .     . 
Let  us  now  inquire  whether  the  'thirty-nine,'  or  any  of  them,  ever  acted 
on  this  question;    and  if  they  did,  how  they  acted  upon  it — how  they 
expressed    that   better   understanding. 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  shows  by  the  votes  of  a  majority  of  the  "thirty- 
nine,"  in  Congress  and  in  other  public  positions,  that  they  acted  in  a 
way  to  indicate  that  they  understood  the  Constitution  as  the  Republi- 
cans, not  as  Douglas,  interpreted  it. 

J  Definition  of  Terms.  It  is  common  experience  that 
guments  often  turn  on  misunderstandings;  that  when 
each  party  to  an  argument  learns  what  the  real  contention 
of  the  other  is,  often  the  argument  is  over.  If,  instead 
of   starting  an    argument   with  a    man   who    denounces 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  321 

religion  and  churches,  you  quietly  draw  him  out,  you 
will  find  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  that  he  is  objecting  to 
certain  practices  of  certain  churches,  or  to  the  actions  of 
certain  hypocritical  church  members,  and  as  a  matter 
of  fact  believes  in  religion  and  churches  too.  But  even 
if  definition  of  terms  does  not  remove  the  issues,  or  even 
reduce  their  number,  it  at  least  enables  us  to  know  what 
they  are.  You  will  notice  how  Lincoln's  definition  of 
"our  fathers"  changes  Douglas's  statement  from  a  safely 
vague  assertion  to  a  dangerously  specific  proposition. 

In  defining  terms  the  dictionary  is  useful,  but  by  no  means  all-sufficient, 
as  is  illustrated  by  Professor  Baker  with  the  proposition,  "Should  Ameri- 
can colleges  substitute  a  more  open  style  of  play  for  the  present  close 
formation?"  Definition  is  a  problem  which  belongs  rather  in  the  works 
upon  exposition.  A  helpful  discussion  will  be  found  in  Baker's 
Principles  of  Argumentation,  pp.  20-42.  From  the  standpoint  of  persua- 
sion, the  main  point  is  that  there  should  be  a  common  understanding 
for  the  sake  of  avoiding  needless  contention.  It  may  be  added  that  it 
is  unwise  for  a  speaker  to  try  to  fix  in  the  minds  of  his  audience  an  unusual 
meaning  for  familiar  terms,  unless  this  is  necessary;  for  their  preconcep- 
tions are  apt  to  rule :  and  further,  that  one  of  the  best  ways  of  clearing 
up  the  meanings  of  terms  is  by  stating  the  origin  and  history  of  the 
question  J, 

Concessions.!  In  the  early  days  of  the  European  war, 
when  the  Germans  were  sweeping  the  French  back  towards 
Paris,  I  heard  an  argument  on  the  comparative  merits  of 
the  French  and  Germans  as  fighters.  The  argument 
promised  to  grow  heated;  but  when  it  was  discovered 
that  one  party  was  talking  of  generalship  and  the  other 
of  the  fighting  qualities  of  private  soldiers,  the  argument, 
and  not  the  arguers,  "blew  up."  This  was  partly  a  mat- 
ter of  definition,  but  also  involved  mutual  concessions. 
Perhaps  the  most  unpopular  man  I  know  is  one  w^ho  never 
concedes  anything  in  an  argument.  To  the  simplest 
claim,  he  demurs;  to  an  assertion  of  the  most  evident 
fact,  he  retorts,  "That  is  your  opinion."     No  means  of 


322  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

finding  common  ground,  removing  distrust  and  establish- 
ing good  feeling,  is  more  important  than  making  conces- 
sions. Concessions  provoke  concessions.  If  you  will 
be  generous  in  admitting  that  I  am  in  part  right,  I  shall 
be  ashamed  to  deal  otherwise  with  you.  If  you  are  going 
to  take  your  stand  against  woman's  suffrage  on  the 
ground  that  the  majority  of  women  do  not  desire  the 
ballot,  do  not  antagonize  your  hearers  by  refusing  to 
admit  that  women  are  capable  of  voting.  The  advo- 
cates of  woman's  suffrage  are  most  effective  when  they 
admit  that  woman's  place  is  in  the  home,  and  argue  that 
she  needs  the  ballot  to  protect  her  home.  What  one 
cannot  conscientiously  admit,  he  may  ignore,  or  admit 
"for  the  sake  of  argument";  or  he  may  say  of  it,  "I  will 
not  contest  that." 

By  conceding,  one  escapes  the  discredit  of  a  refutation 
of  unjustifiable  claims.  If  you  concede  woman's  capacity 
for  inteUigent  voting,  you  escape  a  vigorous  onslaught 
which  might  discredit  you  with  some  audiences,  and  also 
distract  attention  from  your  main  argument. 

The  Real  Issues.  When  the  common  ground  is  well 
marked  out,  definitions  and  explanations  made,  conces- 
sion carried  as  far  as  is  wise,  and  immaterial  matter 
eliminated,  then  the  real  matter  in  dispute,  if  there  is 
anything  left,  should  be  evident;  and  it  should  then  be 
possible  to  discuss  this  with  good  feehng.  To  make  the 
issue  or  issues  the  more  evident,  it  is  well  usually,  in  any 
but  the  simplest  argument,  to  state  carefully  what  the 
speaker  maintains  and  what  he  understands  the  opposi- 
tion to  maintain.! 

All  this  preliminary  work  should  be  done  with  manifest 
fairness.  If  you  have  given  an  untrue  history,  distorting 
or  omitting  important  points,  if  your  definitions  are 
warped,  or  your  proposal  or  the  issues  are  not  fairly  set 
forth,  you  will   be   exposed   to  the^charge  of   trickery, 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  323 

and  will  deserve  the  discredit  of  exposure.  Even  the  man 
who  will  concede  nothing,  who  is  plainly  bigoted  and 
prejudiced,  mil  make  a  better  impression  than  one  who 
under  pretense  of  fairness  attempts  to  deceive  his  audience. 
The  best  opinion  is  that,  even  on  the  low  ground  of  expedi- 
ency, when  one  is  striving  to  vdn  over  the  unconvinced, 
even  honest  partisanship  should  be  excluded  from  the 
introduction  of  an  argument.  Much  emphasis  has  been 
placed  by  Lincoln's  contemporaries  upon  the  extreme 
fairness  with  which  he  would  state  the  facts  and  present 
the  issues  of  a  law  suit,  frequently  alarming  his  client  by 
the  way  in  which  he  would  "give  away  his  case." 

Any  good  text  on  argumentation  will  give  a  more  complete  and  techni- 
cal treatment  of  methods  of  analysis  of  questions  for  the  purpose  of 
finding  issues,  a  problem  treated  here  only  from  the  standpoint  of 
persuasion.  The  second  chapter  in  Baker's  Principles  of  Argumenta- 
tion and  the  second  chapter  in  Foster's  Argumentation  and  Debating 
are  recommended. 

Order  of  Argument.  A  speaker  will  usually  have  at 
his  command  several  arguments,  all  sound  and  legitimate, 
but  some  stronger  than  others.  The  order  in  which  these 
should  be  placed  may  be  determined  by  the  demands  of 
logic  or  intelligibility;  but  not  infrequently  the  arrange- 
ment is  adjustable.  In  such  a  case,  so  far  as  pure  reason 
is  concerned,  each  argument  will  have  its  full  force  regard- 
less of  position;  but  from  the  standpoint  of  persuasion,  of 
adaptation  to  a  given  audience,  order  may  be  important. 
Frequently  the  order  of  climax  is  best;  it  usually  is  if 
the  audience  is  not  strongly  in  opposition.  But  with  a 
prejudiced  audience  it  may  be  necessary  to  present  the 
strongest  possible  argument  first,  in  order  to  get  any 
hearing  at  all.  After  a  breach  in  the  walls  of  prejudice 
has  been  made  by  the  artillery,  the  infantry  can  pass 
through.  To  begin  with  a  weak  argument  may  give 
the  impression  that  the  whole  case  is  weak.     On  the  other 


324  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

hand,  anti-climax  is  to  be  avoided.  Baker  suggests 
that  it  is  sometimes  best  to  place  the  weaker  arguments 
in  the  middle  of  a  speech.  It  may  be  suggested  further 
that  when  the  strongest  argument  has  been  used  first, 
one  may  return  to  it  at  the  end,  or  summarize  all  in  the 
order  of  climax. 

One  should  not,  of  course,  use  arguments  that  are  absolutely  weak, 
even  though  sound;  that  is,  weak  to  the  degree  that  they  weaken  the 
case  in  the  minds  of  the  audience  or  give  an  opponent  an  opportunity 
for  telling  refutation. 

Whether  one  should  begin  \\4th  general  principles  and 
proceed  to  arguments  based  upon  particular  facts,  and 
whether  one  should  state  in  the  beginning  what  he  intends 
to  prove,  are  tjT^ical  problems  of  persuasive  argunient, 
to  be  solved  largely  with  reference  to  the  attitude  of  the 
audience.  Are  the  principles  likely  to  be  rejected  if 
presented  at  once?  Is  the  proposal  too  startling,  or  too 
antagonistic?  If  the  audience  is  not  likely  to  be  thrown 
into  opposition  there  are  advantages  in  setting  forth 
at  once  what  one  proposes  to  establish  and  upon  what 
principles  one  rests;  for  this  enables  the  audience  to  see 
the  bearing  of  each  argument  as  it  is  brought  forward. 
But  where  hostility  might  be  awakened  by  this  method, 
there  is  an  advantage  in  beginning  with  a  narrative  or 
description  of  conditions,  or  whatever  vriW  create  a  mood 
more  favorable  to  the  proposal.  One  who  has  to  propose 
a  measure  rather  socialistic  in  nature  as  a  remedy  for 
some  social  malady,  might  dwell  first  on  the  malady 
itself  with  a  view  to  creating  a  strong  desire  for  some 
remedy.  He  might  then  eliminate  other  proposed 
remedies,  leaving  the  one  he  believes  in.  If  one  wishes 
to  secure  subscriptions  from  hard-headed  business  men 
for  a  plan  to  proxade  cheap  homes  for  the  poor,  he  might 
well  begin  ^^^th  a  demonstration  of  the  sound  business 
aspect  of  the  scheme,  showing  that  it  will  pay  five  percent 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  325 

on  the  money  invested  and  that  it  will  not  pauperize, 
before  pressing  home  his  plea. 

If  you  wish  to  bring  a  rigidly  orthodox  congregation  to  tolerate  the 
"higher  criticism"  of  the  Bible,  do  not  begin  with  that  term,  which  has 
to  them  a  sinister  sound.  Begin,  on  common  ground,  with  the  great 
value  of  the  Bible,  its  place  in  history  and  religion;  tell  how  men  give 
their  lives  to  its  study,  emphasize  the  fact  that  all  truth  about  such  a 
book  is  important,  the  natural  desire  to  know  how  and  through  what 
agencies  the  Bible  has  come  to  us;  and  awaken  curiosity  in  some  of  the 
problems  of  authorship,  taking  up  first  evidence  which  confirms  some 
traditional  belief.  Without  knowing  it,  the  congregation  becomes 
interested  in  the  higher  criticism  and  realizes  that  the  studies  which 
go  by  that  hated  name  may  be  reverent. 

One  must  not  dogmatize  here;  for  "many  men  have 
many  minds,"  and  also  many  feelings.  Much  depends, 
upon  the  audience  and  upon  the  authority  and  manner 
of  the  speaker;  and  also  upon  his  precise  aims. 

Wendell  Phillips  began  his  famous  eulogy  of  Toussaint  L'Ouverture 
by  declaring,  "I  attempt  the  quixotic  effort  to  convince  you  that  the 
negro  blood,  instead  of  standing  at  the  bottom  of  the  list,  is  entitled, 
if  judged  by  its  courage,  its  purpose,  or  its  endurance,  to  a  place  as  near 
ours  as  any  other  blood  known  in  history."  We  may  like  the  boldness 
of  this;  but  I  cannot  agree  with  those  who  think  that  was  a  good  way 
to  begin,  if  he  really  hoped  to  win  assent  to  his  proposition  that  negro 
blood  is  the  equal  of  the  blood  of  the  French,  Italian,  Roman,  or  Greek, 
I  do  not  believe  that  Phillips  expected  any  such  triumph  over  race  pride. 
He  wanted  to  stir  up  interest  and  set  people  thinking.  Moreover, 
he  knew  that  he  was  at  his  best  with  a  hostile  audience. 

In  choosing  our  opening  argument  we  should  remember 
the  tendency  of  men  to  believe  what  they  wish  to  believe. 
We  may  find  it  best  at  all  times  to  appeal  first  to  the 
strongest  possible  motive,  to  set  forth  the  benefits  to  be 
derived  from  our  plan  before  attempting  to  prove  that 
the  benefits  will  follow,  or  that  the  plan  is  feasible. 
If  you  convince  a  student  audience  that  a  proposed 
coaching  system  will  bring  athletic  supremacy,  you  will 
not  have  so  hard  a  time  in  convincing  them  that  the  money 


326  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

can  be  raised.  You  may  present  to  a  dissolute  man  the 
happiness  his  reform  would  bring  his  family  so  vividly 
that  he  will  give  eager  ear  to  your  argument  that  reform 
for  him  is  possible.  Given  the  vision,  creating  desire, 
belief  in  possibility  will  follow. 

Rate  of  Progress.  To  proceed  too  rapidly  with  your 
audience  militates  against  both  persuasion  and  conviction. 
There  must  be  time  for  attention  to  dwell  upon  the  ideas. 
In  general,  we  may  assume  that  country  audiences  think 
less  rapidly,  though  more  surely,  than  audiences  of  equal 
education,  drawn  from  the  rush  of  city  streets,  where 
quick  thinking  is  a  necessity  of  existence.  The  city 
audience  is  quick  in  its  appreciation  and  applause;  but 
it  may  follow  too  readily,  and  not  considering  carefully 
enough,  may  receive  but  a  shallow  impression  which  is 
quickly  lost  for  another.  M'ith  almost  any  audience 
it  is  best  to  proceed  slowly,  present  but  one  principal  idea 
and  impress  that  deeply.  I 

If  your  audience  is  made  up  of  trained  thinkers,  accus- 
tomed to  dealing  with  new  ideas  and  to  sustaining  long 
lines  of  thought,  and  especially  if  trained  in  the  field  of 
your  subject,  progress  may  be  more  rapid.  There  is  even 
danger  of  tantalizing  them  with  too  slow  progress.  How- 
ever, young  speakers  are  far  more  likely  to  proceed  too 
fast  than  too  slow;  or,  rather,  they  do  not  discriminate 
clearly  enough  what  may  be  passed  rapidly  because  it  is 
familiar,  accepted,  easy  of  comprehension,  or  less  im- 
portant, from  what  should  be  dwelt  upon  because  strange, 
difiicult,  or  of  first-class  importance. 

Fixed  Opinions,  Principles  and  Sentiments.  We  must 
take  into  account  those  established  principles  of  belief 
and  action  which,  springing  from  heredity,  temperament 
and  early  training  rather  than  from  reason,  men  rarely 
change.  Such  are  our  beliefs  in  regard  to  the  position  of 
women,   the   rights   of  private  property,   our  American 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  S27 

conviction  that  for  a  city  or  a  university  to  grow  rapidly 
is  a  grand  thing. 

The  truth  is  somewhat  overstated  in  the  following  excerpt  from 
Le  Bon.i 

"It  must  not  be  supposed  that  merely  because  the  justness  of  an  idea 
has  been  proved  it  can  be  productive  of  effective  action,  even  on  culti- 
vated minds.  .  .  .  Evidence,  if  it  be  very  plain,  may  be  accepted 
by  an  educated  person,  but  the  convert  will  be  quickly  brought  back 
by  his  unconscious  self  to  his  original  conceptions.  See  him  again 
after  the  lapse  of  a  few  days  and  he  will  put  forward  his  old  arguments 
in  exactly  the  same  terms.  He  is  in  reality  under  the  influence  of  anterior 
ideas  that  have  become  sentiments,  and  it  is  such  ideas  alone  that  in- 
fluence the  recondite  motives  of  our  acts  and  utterances.  It  cannot  be 
otherwise  in  the  case  of  crowds  which  are  more  under  the  influence  of 
general  ideas  than  individuals.  ...  A  long  time  is  necessary  for 
ideas  to  establish  themselves  in  the  minds  of  crowds,  but  just  as  long  a 
time  is  necessary  for  them  to  be  eradicated." 

A  limitation  is  placed  on  the  preceding  by  this  from  the 

same  work:^ 

"The  opinions  and  beliefs  of  crowds  may  be  divided,  then  into  two 
very  distinct  classes.  On  the  one  hand  we  have  great  permanent 
beliefs,  which  endure  for  several  centuries,  and  on  which  an  entire  civili- 
zation may  rest;  [for  example,  feudalism].  ...  In  the  second 
place,  there  are  the  transitory,  changing  opinions,  ...  as  super- 
ficial, as  a  rule,  as  fashion,  and  as  changeable.  .  .  .  It  is  easy  to 
imbue  the  minds  of  crowds  with  a  passing  opinion,  but  very  difficult 
to  implant  therein  a  lasting  belief.  .  .  .  Even  revolutions  avail 
only  when  the  belief  has  almost  entirely  lost  its  sway  over  men's  minds. 
.     .     .     The  beginning  of  a  revolution  is  in  reality  the  end  of  a  belief." 

\Frequently  men  do  not  know  why  they  hold  these 
permanent  beliefs;  andeed,  they  may  hardly  be  conscious 
that  they  do  hold  them,  having  never  formulated  but 
merely  assumed  them.  Sometimes  they  will  not,  some- 
times they  cannot  reason  about  them.  It  is  a  mistake 
to  suppose  that  men  necessarily  hold  most  firmly  their 
reasoned  beliefs.  \ln  the  first  place,  the  reasoner  realizes 
that  another  opinion  is  possible;  ■wdiileone  who  takes 
his  opTmoi^  from  his  environment  ani  early  ceaching 
holds  them  as  the  only  intelligent  view.  |  "Everybody 
knows  that,"  he  says.  \  In  the  second  place,  a  reasoned^ 

^The  Crowd,  p.  52.  ^Idem,  p.  148. 


328  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

belief  is  rarely  so  imbedded  in  habit  of  thought  and 
emotional  association  as  the  accepted  belief,  though  it 
may  so  grow  into  one's  system  of  thought  that  change 
is  well-nigli  imi)ossiblef  And  this  is  true  of  educated  men 
as  well  as  of  others.      ' 

To  a  man  trained  in  the  older  scliool  of  tliought  great  must  have  been 
the  effort  necessary  fifty  years  ago  to  readjust  his  thinking  to  the  theory 
of  evolution.  And  if  to-day  the  doctrine  of  evolution  were  to  be  over- 
turned by  convincing  proofs,  we  should  see  many  men  of  scientific 
training  protesting  violently  that  the  thing  is  unthinkable, — which  for 
them  would  be  literally  true.  They  would  make  over  again  the  dis- 
credited arguments  and  declare  they  could  not  and  would  not  believe 
the  new  theory. 

It  is  folly,  evidently  enough,  to  try  to  change  a  fixed 
belief  in  a  single  speech;  unless  it  has  already  been  much 
weakened.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  in  an  example  of  a 
belief  which  it  has  been  useless  to  question  before  the 
American  people  until  recent  years;  but  to-day,  before 
many  audiences,  the  doctrine  is  debatable.  It  would 
be  folly  to  think  to  change  the  belief  of  the  average 
American  audience  in  the  republican  form  of  government, 
or  the  belief  of  Roman  Catholics  in  the  religious  authority 
of  the  Pope.  It  is  particularly  foolish  to  attempt  to 
change  quickly  beliefs  that  are  due  largely  to  native  ten- 
dencies. In  arguing  such  a  question  as  direct  primaries, 
for  example,  we  need  to  consider  whether  the  majority 
of  our  audience  are  of  aristocratic  or  of  democratic  ten- 
dencies. 

The  case  is  somewhat  different  when  one  addresses  the 
same  people  in  a  series  of  speeches  covering  a  considerable 
time,  as  does  the  preacher.  But  for  the  most  part  a 
speaker  must  take  the  fixed  opinions  and  sentiments  of 
his  hearers  as  he  finds  them,  and  utilize  them  or  ignore 
them.  If  Boston  feels,  as  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  tells  us, 
that,  "Boston  is  the  hub  of  the  solar  system.  You  could 
not  pry  that  out  of  a  Boston  man  if  you  had  the  tire  of  all 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  329 

creation  straightened  out  for  a  crowbar,"  why,  then, 
when  you  are  talking  to  Boston,  admit  it  or  keep  off  the 
subject.  After  all,  men  of  widely  differing  premises  can 
work  together  in  harmony.  Booker  T.  Washington 
and  many  of  his  white  neighbors  can  agree  on  the  advis- 
ability of  industrial  education  for  negroes;  but  if  Mr. 
Washington  had  not  thoroughly  understood  his  white 
friends  and  if  he  had  emphasized  the  rights  which  he  no 
doubt  believes  are  his,  he  could  never  have  won  their 
support.  If  you  are  to  argue  for  or  against  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  with  men  who  have  the  fixed  opinion  that  our 
international  relations  are  to  be  determined  on  the  basis 
of  pure  self-interest,  then  there  is  no  use  in  arguing  the 
good  of  South  America;  you  should  base  your  argument 
upon  the  interests  of  the  United  States.  Perhaps  you 
can  reach  your  altruistic  argument  by  showing  that  the 
good  of  the  United  States  demands  the  good  of  South 
America.  % 

Identifying  Beliefs.  jTj)^  convince  or  to  persu_ade  a 
man  is  largely  a  matter  oi  identifying  the  opinion  or  course 
of  action  which  you  wish  him  to  adopt  with  one  or  inore 
of  his  fixed  opinions  or  customary  courses  of  actions 
When  his  mind  is  satisfied  of  the  identity,  then  doubts 
vanish,  and  his  mind  rests  upon  yonv  proposal  with  equa- 
nimity. Speaking  of  arriving  at  a  reasoned  decision  after 
a    struggle  with  the  alternatives,  James  says:^ 

"The  conclusive  reason  for  the  decision  in  these  cases 
usually  is  the  discovery  that  we  can  refer  the  case  to  a  class 
upon  which  we  are  accustomed  to  act  unhesitatingly 
in  a  certain  stereotyped  way.  It  may  be  said  in  general 
that  a  great  part  of  every  deliberation  consists  in  the 
turning  over  of  all  the  possible  modes  of  conceiving  of 
the  doing  or  not  doing  of  the  act  in  point.  The  moment 
we  hit  upon  a  conception  which  lets  us  apply  some  prin- 
ciple of  action  which  is  a  fixed  and  stable  part  of  our 

^Briefer  Course,  p.  430. 


330  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Ego,  our  state  of  doubt  is  at  an  end.  Persons  of  authority, 
who  have  to  make  many  decisions  in  a  day,  carry  wath 
them  a  set  of  heads  of  classification,  each  bearing  its 
vohtional  consequence,  and  under  these  they  seek  as  far 
as  possible  to  arrange  each  new  emergency  as  it  occurs. 
It  is  where  the  species  is  without  precedent,  to  which 
consequently  no  cut  and  dried  maxim  will  apply,  that  we 
feel  at  a  loss,  and  are  distressed  at  the  indeterminateness 
of  our  task.  As  soon,  however,  as  we  see  our  way  to  a 
familiar  classification,  we  are  at  ease  again.  In  action 
as  in  reasoning,  then,  the  great  thing  is  the  quest  oj  the 
rigid  conception.'" 

When  a  manager  discharges  an  employee,  his  process  may  be  like 
this:  Jones  is  careless  in  his  work.  I  discharge  men  who  are  careless; 
therefore,  I  will  discharge  Jones.  That  is,  when  Jones  comes  under 
the  classification.  Careless  men,  the  decision  to  discharge  is  almost  auto- 
matic; unless  Jones  chances  to  come  under  some  other  classification, 
such  as  men  whose  family  would  suffer,  or  men  whom  the  president 
favors. 

Plainly,  then,  in  convincing  and  persuading  the  speaker 
should  seek  to  show  that  the  belief  or  action  urged  is  in 
accord  with  some  conception  or  "principle  of  action 
which  is  a  fixed  and  stable  part  of  our  [hearer's]  Ego"; 
or  more  nearly  in  accord  mth  such  a  principle  than  is  the 
contrary  course.  When  one  convinces  a  Democrat 
that  the  measure  urged  is  in  line  mth  Democratic  prac- 
tice, or  the  opponents  of  militarism  that  military  drill 
in  the  universities  is  one  means  of  making  it  safe  to  get 
on  with  a  small  standing  army,  one  is  carrying  out  the 
suggestion  of  the  above  paragraph.  A  syllogism  is  only 
a  formal  way  of  putting  an  identification. 

The  following  from  Bain  is  directly  in  point  and  worth  pondering c"^ 
"Persuasion  implies  that  some  course  of  conduct  shall  be  so  described, 
or  expressed,  as  to  coincide,  or  be  identified,  with  the  active  impulses 
of  the  persons  addressed,  and  thereby  command  their  adoption  of  it 
by  the  force  of  their  own  natural  dispositions.  A  leader  of  banditti 
has  to  deal  with  a  class  of  persons  whose  ruling  impulse  is  plunder; 
and  it  becomes  his  business  to  show  that  any  scheme  of  his  proposing 

^Senses  and  Intellect,  p.  542. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  331 

will  lead  to  this  end.  A  people  with  an  intense,  overpowering  patriotism, 
as  the  old  Romans,  can  be  acted  upon  by  proving  that  the  interests  of 
the  country  are  at  stake.  The  fertile  oratorical  mind  is  one  that  can 
identify  a  case  in  hand  with  a  great  number  of  the  strongest  beliefs 
of  an  audience;  and  more  especially  with  those  that  seem,  at  first  sight, 
to  have  no  connection  with  the  point  to  be  carried.  The  discovery  of 
identity  in  diversity  is  never  more  called  for,  than  in  attempts  to  move 
men  to  adopt  some  unwonted  course  of  proceeding.  When  a  new  reform 
is  introduced  in  the  state,  it  is  usually  thought  necessary  (at  least  in 
England)  to  reconcile  and  identify  it  in  many  ways  with  the  venerated 
Constitution,  or  with  prevailing  maxims  and  modes  of  feeling,  with 
which  it  would  seem  at  variance.  To  be  a  persuasive  speaker,  it  is 
necessary  to  have  vividly  present  to  the  view  all  the  leading  impulses 
and  convictions  of  the  persons  addressed,  and  to  be  ready  to  catch  at 
every  point  of  identity  between  these  and  the  proposition  suggested 
for  their  adoption.  The  first  named  qualification  grows  out  of  the  experi- 
ence and  study  of  character;  the  other  is  the  natural  force  of  Similarity, 
which  has  often  been  exemplified  in  its  highest  range  in  oratorical  minds. 
In  the  speeches  of  Burke,  we  see  it  working  with  remarkable  vigor.  Per- 
haps the  most  striking  instance  of  this  fertility  of  identification  for  per- 
suasive ends  is  exhibited  in  Milton's  Defense  of  Unlicensed  Printing." 

Questions  to  consider:  What  is  the  relation  of  the  foregoing  to  what 
was  said  in  earlier  chapters  about  novelty.'  What  would  you  say  of 
the  force  of  novelty  in  persuasion.' 

Conservative  or  Radical.  Nothing  is  more  important 
in  considering  the  tendencies  of  an  audience  with  reference 
to  persuasion,  than  their  relative  conservatism  and  radi- 
calism. Will  they  take  kindly  to  new  proposals,  or  stand 
firmly  for  the  ''old  landmarks"? 

It  will  be  convenient  to  discuss  this  topic  from  the  standpoint  of  one 
seeking  to  move  his  hearers  from  a  conservative  position.  Any  intelli- 
gent student  should  be  able  to  adapt  this  discussion  to  the  reverse  pro- 
cess, and  will  find  this  an  interesting  study.  Teachers  may  find  it  advan- 
tageous to  base  quiz  and  examination  questions  upon  the  means  of 
checking  movements  that  chance  to  be  before  the  country. 

There  is  no  intention  of  implying  at  any  point  that  conservatism  is 
unwise;  indeed,  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  be  controlled  by  conserva- 
tives, and  fortunate  that  they  are  usually  in  the  majority.  It  is  also 
fortunate  that  there  are  others  who  would  push  on  and  dare  experiments. 
It  is  the  speaker's  business  to  know  what  kind  of  people  he  is  dealing 
with.     He  may  be  aided  by  certain  general  considerations. 

i  Conservatism  Characteristic  of  the  English-Speaking 
eoplesA  It  is  not  the  way  of  the  so-called  Anglo-Saxons 


33^  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

to  change  their  institutions  in  a  wholesale  way.  We  are 
told  that  in  contrast  the  Latin  peoples,  having  adopted 
a  belief,  wish  to  work  it  out  at  once  into  a  consistent 
system.  So  Lavisse  speaks^  of  England  as  "a  country 
of  slow  continuous  transformations,  in  which  the  present 
is  not  separated  from  the  past  by  visible  lines  of  demarca- 
tion." But  in  speaking  of  the  French  Revolution,  he 
says,  that,  "when  o%A'ing  to  the  faults  of  its  kings,  the 
country  detached  itself  from  royalty,  it  raised  itself  at 
once  to  the  idea  of  humanity." 

The  change  in  England  from  an  almost  absolute  mon- 
archy to  one  of  the  freest  of  governments  has  been  brought 
about  piecemeal  and  by  a  series  of  compromises.  Very 
rarely  do  we  Americans  change  our  Constitution.  We 
wait  for  the  slow  process  of  judicial  construction.  And 
when  we  do  change  we  like  to  think  we  are  only  follomng 
in  the  path  marked  out  by  the  fathers.  We  assume  that 
the  founders  of  our  government,  who  lacked  national 
experience,  who  dealt  with  a  situation  vastly  different 
from  our  own,  and  who  ascribed  little  enough  wisdom 
to  each  other,  yet  somehow  had  a  marvelous  foresight  for 
the  problems  of  to-day.  In  the  Cooper  Union  speech 
Lincoln  did  not  question  the  declaration  that  the  fathers 
understood  the  slavery  question  better  than  the  men  of 
the  '50's,  but  showed  that  the  fathers  agreed  with  the 
Republicans  rather  than  with  the  Douglas  Democrats. 

A  speaker  must  reckon  with  the  strongly  conservative 
tendency  of  our  people.  He  must  not  expect  to  win  favor 
for  revolutionary  change;  and  must  be  content  in  most 
cases  with  the  half  loaf.  They  will  prefer  to  tinker  up 
the  old  rather  than  to  adopt  a  completely  new  system. 
And  this  was  just  as  true  in  the  year  of  our  grace  1912, 
when  every  man  asserted  that  he  was  progressive,  as  at 

^Political  History  of  Europe,  p.  141. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  333 

any  time.  The  young  speaker,  full  of  enthusiasm  for 
new  cures  and  reforms,  will  do  well  to  note  this  tendency 
to  make  haste  slowly;  for  it  furnishes  a  mighty  fulcrum 
for  his  opponent.  Just  a  sneer  at  youthful  radicalism 
may  defeat  him. 

The  enthusiast  who  disregards  human  nature  or  thinks  it  easily  set 
on  fire  for  new  causes  or  new  methods,  may  consider  the  following  from 
a  speech  by  Liberty  Hyde  Bailey,  delivered  while  he  was  Director  of 
the  New  York  State  College  of  Agriculture,  and  he  should  remember 
that  the  attitude  ascribed  to  the  farmer  is  that  of  the  majority  of  our 
solid  followers  of  routine;   that  is,  of  the  majority  of  men: 

"The  farmer  comes  in  contact  with  things  that  do  not  change  very 
easily.  I  once  asked  a  farmer  why  he  did  not  blast  out  a  rock.  He 
said,  'It  has  always  been  there.'  After  a  two-days'  institute  in  a  school 
house,  I  was  interested  to  know  how  the  farmers  felt  about  it,  whether 
they  were  confused  b}^  the  multitude  of  matters  presented.  I  chanced 
to  overhear  two  men  speaking.  One  said,  'Well,  Henry,  what  do  you 
think  of  it.''  and  Henry  replied,  'Let  'em  go  it;  they  can't  hurt  me 
none.' " 

Some  Forces  against  Change.  We  have  to  reckon  on 
certain  influences  in  opposition  to  change.  Those  repre- 
senting institutions  affected  by  the  change,  whether  these 
institutions  are  railways,  colleges  or  churches,  unless  the 
change  be  asked  for  by  themselves,  will  resist.  Institu- 
tions almost  invariably  grow  conservative.  Even  a 
sociaTistic  party  obeys  the  tendency.  Those  in  official 
positions,  especially  those  in  minor  positions,  grow  con- 
servative; they  become  accustomed  to  routine,  and  also 
fear  that  the  readjustments  due  to  improved  methods 
may  cost  them  their  positions.  Those  who  exercise 
authority,  from  emperors  and  senates  to  athletic  councils, 
and  committees  of  college  faculties,  favor  change  only  in 
the  direction  of  placing  more  power  in  their  own  hands. 
Desiring  efficiency,  and  perhaps  unconsciously  desiring 
power,  they  dislike  all  change  in  the  direction  of  democ- 
racy. Most  men  are  conser^'ative  in  whatever  affects  their 
incomes,  their  positions,  their  routine  and  habits. 


334  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

In  the  powerful  speech  made  by  EHhu  Root  in  the  New  York  Consti- 
tutional Convention,  on  August  30,  1915,  in  favor  of  the  "short  ballot," 
he  dwelt  upon  the  many  evidences  of  popular  demand  for  the  measure, 
in  spite  of  which  certain  office  holders  were  sure  the  people  were  opposed. 
He  continued: 

"My  friend,  Mr,  Brackett,  sees  nothing  wrong  about  [the  government 
of  the  State.]  He  has  been  fifteen  years  in  the  Senate.  .  .  .  Why 
should  he  see  anything  wTong.''  My  friend,  Mr.  Greene,  is  comfortably 
settled  in  the  Excise  Department,  and  he  sees  nothing  wrong. 

"There  never  was  a  reform  in  administration  in  this  world  which  did 
not  have  to  make  its  way  against  the  strong  feeling  of  good,  honest  men, 
concerned  in  existing  methods  of  administration,  and  who  saw  nothing 
wrong.  It  is  no  impeachment  of  a  man's  honesty,  his  integrity,  that 
he  thinks  the  methods  that  he  is  familiar  with  and  in  which  he  is  engaged, 
are  all  right.  But  you  cannot  make  any  improvement  in  this  world 
without  overriding  the  satisfaction  that  men  have  in  things  as  they  are, 
and  of  which  they  are  a  contented  and  successful  part." 

Crowds  are  Conservative.  We  here  take  the  term 
crowds  broadly,  not  limiting  it  merely  to  bodies  of  people 
together  at  one  spot,  but  including  homogeneous  communi- 
ties, states,  or  peoples.  This  is  the  sense  in  which  Le  Bon 
uses  the  word.  We  are  prepared  by  what  he  says  of  the 
sloWTiess  of  crowds  in  receiving  new  ideas,  for  this 
statement.^ 

"It  is  diflBcult  to  understand  history,  and  popular 
revolutions  in  particular,  if  one  does  not  take  into  account 
the  profoundly  conservative  instincts  of  crowds.  They 
may  be  desirous,  it  is  true,  of  changing  the  names  of  their 
institutions,  .  .  .  but  the  essence  of  these  insti- 
tutions is  too  much  the  expression  of  the  hereditary  needs 
of  the  race  for  them  not  invariably  to  abide  by  it." 

Such  groups  as  student  bodies  are  conservati^  e.  There 
is  a  "vast  inertia"  in  the  mass  of  men  who  make  up  the 
electorate  of  a  state.  They  must  always  be  behind 
the  thinkers  of  the  age.  A  leader,  we  have  been  told  by 
George  William  Curtis,  "must  not  be  too  far  ahead  of  his 
age;  but  up  with  his  age  and  ahead  of  it  only  just  so  far 
as  to  be  able  to  lead  its  march."  Such  a  leader  is  Mr. 
Bryan.     It  is  a  truism,  well  expressed  in  Lowell's  Present 

^The  Crowd,  p.  42. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  335 

Crisis,  that  humanity  has  often  crucified  and  burned  those 
too  far  in  the  lead,  and  then  has  built  monuments  to 
them  when  the  race  has  caught  up. 

But  we  should  not  overlook  the  fact  that  the  masses 
do  move  forward,  and  that  it  may  be  splendidly  worth 
while  to  take  a  position  far  in  advance;  or,  dropping  the 
figure,  to  work  for  changes  that  may  be  expected  only 
in  the  distant  future.  The  fact  that  the  mass  of  men 
change  but  slowly  makes  prolonged  agitation  necessary. 
Wendell  Phillips  spoke  out  of  experience  when  he  said 
in  his  Phi  Beta  Kappa  address: 

"As  Emerson  says,  'What  the  tender  and  poetic  youth 
dreams  to-day,  and  conjures  up  in  inarticulate  speech, 
is  to-morrow  the  vociferated  result  of  public  opinion, 
and  the  day  after  is  the  charter  of  nations.'  Lieber  said, 
in  1870,  'Bismark  proclaims  to-day  in  the  Diet  the  very 
principles  for  which  we  were  hunted  and  exiled  fifty  years 
ago.*  Submit  to  risk  your  daily  bread,  expect  social 
ostracism,  count  on  a  mob  now  and  then,  'be  in  earnest, 
don't  equivocate,  don't  excuse,  don't  retreat  a  single 
inch,'  and  you  will  finally  be  heard.  No  matter  how  long 
and  weary  the  waiting,  at  last, — 

"  'Ever  the  truth  comes  uppermost. 
And  ever  is  justice  done. 

For  humanity  sweeps  onward: 
Where  to-day  the  martyr  stands. 

On  the  morrow  crouches  Judas 

With  the  silver  in  his  hands.' " 

Not  all  attempts  at  reform  arouse  mob  violence,  but  all 
do  provoke  some  degree  of  resistance  and  resentment. 
The  main  point  for  us  here  is  that  a  very  great  degree  of 
change  cannot  be  hoped  for  at  once,  that  radical  change 
demands  a  campaign,  which  may  require  months  and  may 
run  into  many  years.  After  the  campaign  for  civil 
service  reform  had  been  on  for  twenty  years,  a  stump 
speaker  could  safely  refer  to  it  as  "snivil  service  reform." 
Woman's  suffrage  was  an  organized  movement  in  the 
first  half  of  the  last  century,  and  prohibition  in  the  seventies ; 


336  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

yet  until  within  five  years  in  most  parts  of  the  country 
they  have  been  freely  ridiculed.  Many  a  reform  must 
wait  for  a  new  generation  to  arise. 

Further  Considerations  in  Judging  Conservatism.  Tlie 
speaker  may  well  ask  himself,  Is  this  audience  accustomed 
to  considering  new  ideas,  and  therefore  less  distrustful 
of  them,  simply  because  they  are  new?  Are  my  hearers 
property  owners,  with  established  businesses,  and  there- 
fore interested  in  preserving  the  status  quo?  Is  my 
audience  composed  of  elderly  people,  who  have  lived  long 
enough  to  see  many  panaceas  fail,  and  have,  therefore, 
grown  weary  of  new  proposals?  It  would  be  rash,  how- 
ever, to  suppose  that  all  old  men  are  conservative  and  all 
young  men  radical.  A  young  conservative  is  fiercer 
in  his  fighting  for  the  old  way  than  an  old  conservative, 
who  is  less  alarmed  about  the  probability  of  change. 
But  no  doubt,  in  general,  age  increases  hesitancy  to  take 
up  new  ideas  and  ways,  and  decreases  ability  to  do  so. 

An  economist  of  reputation,  about  forty  years  of  age,  tells  me  that  as  a 
student  he  was  strongly  conservative,  but  finds  himself  growing  more 
radical  every  year.  He  declares  that  economists  as  a  group  are  radical. 
He  quotes  a  distinguished  economist  past  middle  life  who  declares  he 
is  growing  radical  year  by  year,  but  finds  historians  still  more  radical. 
These  men,  students  of  the  past  as  well  as  of  the  present,  realize  that 
history  is  not  static,  but  a  process  of  change  and  evolution.  They  are 
not  like  a  freshman  who,  finding  a  custom,  established  last  year,  in 
vogue  in  his  college,  thinks  it  a  hoary  tradition.  They  realize  well  that 
the  impossibilities  of  fifty  years  ago  are  the  commonplaces  of  to-day, 
and  they  are  not  unduly  awed  by  the  wisdom  of  the  past.  Their  minds 
are  therefore  open  to  proposed  improvements,  though  they  demand 
good  evidence.  One  such  man  has  described  himself  as  a  "conserva- 
tive radical."  Lawyers  and  ecclesiastics,  on  the  contrary,  trained  to 
accept  the  authority  of  the  past,  are  likely  to  be  conservative.  The 
principles  illustrated  in  this  paragraph  should  prove  suggestive  to  the 
speaker  in  "sizing  up"  a  situation. 

The  newer  parts  of  the  country  may  be  expected,  in 
general,    to   be   less    influenced    by   conventional   ideas, 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  337 

customs  and  precedents.  In  New  England  and  in  the 
South  are  more  of  those  influential  families  whose  pride 
is  in  the  past  and  who  hold  that  the  fact  that  things  have 
been  so  is  an  excellent  reason  why  they  should  remain  so. 
A  magazine  story  describes  a  mental  state  that  cannot  safely  be 
ignored  in  many  quiet  old  towns,  where  the  innovator  will  be  calmly 
pushed  aside.  Miss  Winifred  Atwood's  bird  bath,  an  artistic  antique 
bit  of  Florentine  marble,  stands  on  the  edge  of  the  new  golf  links,  and 
in  danger.  But  "before  the  golf  club  was  started  there  was  no  need  of 
a  fence  between  their  house  and  that  portion  rented  from  them.  After- 
ward no  fence  was  erected,  because  there  had  never  been  a  fence  there — 
which  is  always  an  unanswerable  argument  in  our  town."  And  it  will 
be  found  just  as  unanswerable  in  opposition  to  fences  proposed  against 
moral  or  other  dangers  in  that  town. 

But  one  must  not  reckon  too  much  on  sectional  charac- 
teristics, except  with  reference  to  particular  questions. 
While  the  West  seems  to  be  particularly  friendly  to  politi- 
cal innovations,  it  is  far  more  orthodox  in  religion  than 
New  England.  Much  depends  in  any  section,  also,  upon 
the  quality  of  its  leadership.  New  Jersey  under  the 
leadership  of  Governor  Wilson  seemed  a  very  different 
State  from  the  New  Jersey  of  two  years  before. 

Conservative  or  Radical  concerning  the  Particular 
Proposition?  Men  may  be  conservative  toward  some 
propositions  and  liberal  toward  others.  Is  your  audience 
well  accustomed  to  hearing  discussions  of  municipal 
reform,  or  will  your  plan  for  a  stringent  building  code 
seem  a  startling  innovation?  Are  commission  government 
and  short  ballots  quite  foreign  to  their  experience,  or 
are  these  systems  in  force  in  neighboring  communities? 
Are  you  to  address  a  body  of  reformers,  or  a  body  com- 
posed of  those  inclined  to  think  the  effect  of  a  measure 
upon  profits  more  important  than  its  effect  upon  tene- 
ment dwellers?  Are  you  arguing  for  strict  enforcement 
of  liquor  laws  before  a  body  whose  creed  is,  "Business  is 
business,"  and  are  fearful  that  a  "dry"  town  means  a 


338  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

falling  off  in  trade?  Is  the  body  before  whom  you  are 
urging  a  county  tuberculosis  hospital  composed  chiefly 
of  tax-payers?  If  so,  what  motive  is  stronger  with  them 
than  low  taxes?  Are  you  discussing  a  labor  problem 
before  socialists  or  men  who,  like  most  business  men  and 
farmers,  resent  interference  with  the  individual's  conduct 
of  his  own  affairs?  Are  you  discussing  the  Indian  ques- 
tion before  Eastern  people  who  are  impressed  with  the 
wrongs  of  the  "noble  red  man,"  or  before  Western  people 
who  incline  to  the  view  that  "the  only  good  Indian  is  a 
dead  Indian?"  Are  you  tiying  to  secure  acceptance  for 
the  results  of  modern  Biblical  criticism  from  an  audience 
hostile  to  the  "higher  criticism,"  or  from  one  that  likes 
to  think  itself  liberal? 

Overcoming  Conservatism.  Since  men  are  often  repel- 
led by  new  ideas  simply  because  they  are  new,  and  may 
even  have  a  fear  of  unfamiliar  courses,^  \^'e  do  well  to 
emphasize  the  familiar  rather  than  the  unfamiliar—aspect 
of  our  proposal.  It  should  be  described  in  familiar 
terms,  illustrated  with  familiar  experiences,  identified 
with  familiar  actions  and  ideas,  and  supported  by  familiar 
authorities  and  proverbs.  Since  men  are  much  under  the 
influence  of  names,  conventions  and  forms  of  institutions, 
we  should  not  ask  for  changes  in  these  beyond  what  is 
necessary.  Augustus  changed  the  government  of  Rome 
into  a  monarchy,  but  preserved  so  far  as  possible  the 
forms  of  the  old  Republic.  The  same  officials  and  official 
bodies  remained,  but  with  diff'erent  powers.  So  long 
as  the  Senate  met  and  styles  in  togas  were  unchanged, 
there  were  many  unable  to  see  ho\\'  the  liberties  of  Rome 
were  passing. 

We  have  already  noted  the  truth  that  we  should  not 
expect  men  to  change  their  opinions  rapidly.     We  must 

^Cf.  McDougall,  Social  Psychology,  p.  54. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  339 

give  time  and  opportunity  to  grow  accustomed  to  a  new 
proposition,  for  the  natural  distrust  to  wear  away  and 
for  the  ideas  to  be  assimilated.  Benjamin  Franklin, 
a  master  molder  of  public  opinion,  used  to  begin,  not 
by  calKng  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  and 
asking  them  to  accept  his  proposal  at  once,  but  by  accus- 
toming the  public  mind  to  his  plans  by  prolonged  news- 
paper discussion  before  calling  his  meeting.  Making 
ideas  familiar  by  repeated  attack  is  highly  important  to 
the  art  of  "publicity."  What  has  been  said  of  repetition 
is  applicable  here.  Advertisers  have  a  maxim,  "Repetition 
is  reputation."  And,  as  Mr.  Dooley  says,  "I'll  belave 
anything  at  all,  if  you'll  only  tell  it  to  me  often  enough." 
It  is  sometimes  wdse  to  begin  with  mild  suggestions 
and  gradually  develop  them;  again,  one  may  do  better 
to  set  forth  the  proposal  in  its  most  startling  form,  and 
then,  when  excited  opposition  has  grown  up,  to  relieve 
anxiety  by  sho\\dng  various  modifications  and  limitations 
which  make  the  proposal  less  radical  than  it  seemed. 
One  might  guess  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  not  a  stranger  to 
this  method.  It  is  a  good  way  of  winning  attention; 
but  it  may  cause  misunderstanding  and  misrepresenta- 
tions, which,  when  emphasized  by  opponents,  are  hard 
to  eradicate  from  the  popular  mind.  The  method  may 
also  gain  for  one  the  reputation  of  being  "unsafe." 

TMiich  is  the  better  salesmanship:  To  advertise  a  car  for  $950,  and 
then  add  extras  bringing  the  price  for  a  well  fitted  car  up  to  $1200; 
or  to  fix  the  price  at  $1400  and  then  show  how  this  might  be  cut  down  to 
$1200  by  omitting  certain  features?  Which  is  the  better  politics: 
To  demand  a  sweeping  tariff  reduction  and  accept  a  moderate  measure; 
or  to  ask  for  a  little  and  work  for  more  when  the  public  is  accustomed 
to  the  idea;  or  to  demand  precisely  what  you  want  and  stand  by  the 
demand? 

Precedent.  The  conservatives  are  much  influenced 
by  the  fact  that  the  same  thing,  or  nearly  the  same  thing, 


340  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

has  been  done  before,  that  what  may  have  seemed  a 
radical  change  is  after  all  proved  by  experience.  Where 
you  will  find  one  to  welcome  a  plan  because  it  is  untried, 
and  therefore  an  attractive  venture,  you  will  find  twenty, 
and  those  twenty  of  the  influential,  "safe  and  sane," 
members  of  the  audience,  who  are  uneasy  and  inattentive 
until  they  learn  that  the  scheme  has  been  in  successful 
operation  in  some  community.  The  character  of  that 
community  counts  for  much.  If  it  is  similar  to  our  own, 
as  another  American  state  of  equal  rank,  the  precedent 
will  be  effective.  The  average  man  is  much  less  influenced 
by  the  fact  that  New  Zealand  has  an  old  age  pension 
system  than  that  England  and  Germany  have  such  sys- 
tems. Prestige  counts.  The  thoughtful  man  vnW  also 
demand  that  conditions  in  any  community  cited  as  a  pre- 
cedent be  similar  to  those  in  his  owa  community,  as  affect- 
ing the  matter  in  hand. 

It  is  most  effective  to  show  that  we  ourselves  have  been 
doing  all  the  time  practically  what  is  proposed,  or  did 
so  at  one  time.  The  advocates  of  the  * 'popular  review 
of  judicial  decisions,"  tried  to  relieve  the  burden  of  radical 
change  by  arguing  that  this  is  only  another  way  of  amend- 
ing constitutions.  Socialistic  propaganda  is  much  aided, 
and  the  term  socialism  is  gradually  being  relieved  of 
its  opprobrium,  as  we  come  to  realize  that  our  schools, 
post-offices  and  hospitals  are  socialistic.  INIunicipal 
ownership  of  street  railways  are  not  so  shocking  when  we 
consider  our  city-owned  water  and  lighting  systems; 
and  we  ^^ew  government  regulation  of  corporate  indus- 
tries with  less  alarm  as  we  think  of  the  work  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission. 

Precedent  may  be  connected  wdth  the  motive  of  emula- 
tion, when  we  recite  how  another  person,  town,  or  countrJ^ 
is  in  advance  of  us.  A  suffrage  advocate  declares :  "We 
are  behind  Norway,  Sweden,    Austria,    China,    Iceland. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  341 

In  fact,  women  in  every  other  country"  of  the  globe  have 
more  pohtical  power  than  do  those  of  our  own  Empire 
State."  One  feels  this  is  a  very  important  statement, 
very  humiliating,  if  true. 

This  reminds  us  that  citing  precedent  is  a  method  of 
argument  much  open  to  rebuttal,  not  only  on  the  ground 
of  failure  to  show  similarity  of  conditions,  but  of  failure 
to  state _^true  facts.  Even  the  honest  speaker  is  peculiarly 
tempted  to  misstate  facts  in  such  sweepmg  generalizations 
as  that  just  quoted.  The  dishonest  speaker  finds  prece- 
dent an  effective  means  of  deception.  Just  as  promoters 
of  dubious  companies  tell  glowing  stories  of  the  great 
profits  of  similar  companies  and  of  gold  mines  right  beside 
the  promoters'  properties ;  so  one  arguing  for  a  minimum 
wage  law  cites  the  examples  of  Australia  and  England. 
But  an  opponent  points  out  that  industrial  conditions 
in  those  countries  make  the  precedents  invalid,  or  that  the 
law  ad^^ocated  differs  materially  from  those  cited.  It 
is  worth  the  while  of  any  speaker  to  study  the  methods 
of  refuting  the  fallacies  arising  from  precedent  and  analogy, 
and  these  will  be  found  w^ell  treated  in  texts  on  argumenta- 
tion. 

Precedent,  prestige  and  authority  may  operate  as  suggestions  which 
influence  us  without  deliberation  on  our  part.  I  am  speaking  of  them 
here  as  they  are  consciously  taken  into  account;  e.g.,  Germany,  a  country 
which  has  carried  governmental  eflSciency  to  a  high  point,  has  adopted 
old  age  pensions;  therefore  the  system  is  worthy  consideration. 

Authority.  In  our  conservative  phase,  we  are  much 
relieved  by  learning  that  a  given  proposal  has  the  indorse- 
ment of  those  whom  "we  respect  as  authorities.  Who  is 
there  among  us  w^ho  does  not  accept  some  book  or  some 
man,  father,  teacher,  preacher,  or  specialist,  as  authority 
almost  beyond  question,  if  not  upon  all  subjects,  at  least 
upon  some?  Most  of  our  opinions  are  based  upon  little 
else  than  authority,  though  we  may  have  forgotten  what 


342  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

authority .  Men  will  have  authority  in  one  form  or  another. 
Those  of  scientific  habit  of  thought  are  less  under  the  in- 
fluence of  authority  than  others ;  but  no  man  can  "prove  all 
things."  Many  things  we  must  accept  from  those  whose 
business  it  is  to  know.  Many  of  our  facts  we  must 
receive  and  give  out  on  authority.  We  should  be  chary 
of  accepting  mere  opinions,  but  must  in  practice  accept 
them  at  times;  and  we  often  have  to  accept  conclusions 
which  are  compounded  of  observed  facts  and  skillful 
deduction,  as  when  a  statistician  works  out  from  census 
statistics  conclusions  concerning  the  divorce  problem. 

The  use  of  authorities  is  more  a  matter  of  persuasion  than  of  logic; 
and  since  authorities  are  rarely  well  used  by  young  speakers,  I  shall 
treat  the  topic  at  some  length.  Those  Avho  wish  to  pursue  the  psychologi- 
cal phase  of  this  subject  will  find  discussions  in  McDougall's  Social 
Psychology  and  Ross's  work  of  the  same  title.  (See  their  indexes  under 
Prestige.)     They  treat  the  subject,  however,  as  a  matter  of  suggestion. 

Persuasive  Use  of  Authorities.  The  primary  requisite 
is,  of  course,  that  your  authority  be  accepted  as  such  by 
your  audience.  There  is  some  effect  from  the  quotation 
of  even  an  unknown  man's  opinion.  x\t  least  one  other 
man  has  believed  as  the  speaker  believes.  If  the  opinion 
comes  with  a  touch  of  literary  style,  its  value  is  increased. 
It  is  told  that  DeWitt  Talmage,  whose  sermons  were 
printed  weekly  in  papers  throughout  the  country  for 
many  years,  directed  his  assistants  to  look  up  each  week 
two  or  three  pat  literary  quotations  to  enforce  the  central 
thought  of  his  sermon.  We  have  an  habitual  deference 
toward  quoted  authorities,  especially  what  is  cited  from 
print.  I  once  knew  a  woman  who  bel'eved  all  she  read 
in  newspapers.  Few  more  intelligent  people  completely 
outgrow  the  superstitious  awe  of  book  covers.  To  be  of 
full  effect,  however,  and  to  withstand  the  attacks  of 
opponents,  your  authorities  should  meet  certain  tests, 
though  it  will  be  clear  that  not  every  authority  used  need 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  S43 

meet  all  the  tests  that  follow.  Too  many  speakers 
simply  hurl  a  name  or  quotation  at  an  audience,  regardless 
of  value  or  of  pertinence. 

1.  Is  your  authority  known  to  the  audience?  In  a 
debate  on  woman's  suffrage  both  sides  quoted  repeatedly 
from  this  and  that  person  regarding  Colorado's  experience; 
but  as  the  persons  named  were  unknown  to  us,  the  quo- 
tations were  of  little  effect.  Paraphrasing  the  old  couplet, 
If  your  authority  be  not  authority  to  me,  what  care  I 
how  authoritative  he  be?  The  names  of  Edison  and 
Burbank  will  go  further  with  general  audiences  than  those 
of  many  greater  scientists. 

2.  Is  your  authority  known  to  the  audience  as  authority 
on  the  question  imder  argument?  The  opinions  of  some 
men  will  be  of  weight  upon  almost  any  problem.  The 
unthinking  will  accept  them  without  question;  while 
the  thoughtful  will  hold  that  men  of  such  poise,  wisdom 
and  impartiality,  will  not  be  hkely  to  utter  an  opinion 
except  upon  good  ground.  Yet  we  must  recognize  that 
while  a  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
is  a  weighty  authority  upon  a  question  of  law,  upon  an 
economic,  social,  or  political  question  his  judgment  is 
not  necessarily  of  importance. 

3.  What  is  the  emotional  attitude  of  your  audience 
toward  your  authority?  The  fact  that  a  man  is  of  a  cer- 
tain school  of  thought,  or  party,  or  church  may  create 
prejudice  against  him.  In  spite  of  his  wonderful  oppor- 
tunities for  observation,  there  are  audiences  who  would 
accept  Mr.  Roosevelt  as  authority  on  scarcely  any  ques- 
tion. 

4.  Does  your  authority,  though  lacking  popular^  repu- 
tation, hold  a  position  which  gives  him  authority  in  the 
public  mind?  Walter  F.  Willcox  needs  no  introduction 
t6~some  audiences  as  a  statistician  of  great  ability  and 
rare   impartiality;     other   audiences    would    accept    him 


344  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

wluMi  told  that  he  was  chief  statistician  of  the  Twelfth 
Census.  Some  would  be  favorably  impressed  when  told 
that  he  is  Professor  of  Statistics  in  Cornell  University; 
while  others  would  reject  his  authority  on  the  ground  that 
all  professors  are  mere  theorists. 

5.  Has  your  authority  had  exceptional  advantages 
for  learning  the  truth?  In  the  debate  above  referred  to, 
some  weight  was  attached  to  statements  by  the  governors 
of  states  in  which  women's  suffrage  has  been  tried.  Is  the 
physician  called  as  an  insanity  expert  one  who  has  had 
exceptional  experience,  as  in  an  insane  asylum?  The  fact 
that  a  man  is  a  la\wer,  an  engineer,  an  agriculturist, 
does  not  make  him  authority  on  all  the  problems  of  his 
profession.  What  special  advantages  has  he  had?  If 
you  wish  to  quote  an  authority  on  Chinese  affairs,  it  is 
worth  while  to  state  the  facts  which  give  him  authority; 
e.g.,  "President  Goodenough  of  Johns  Hopkins  University, 
who  has  been  legal  adviser  to  President  Yuan  Shi- 
Kai," — a  position  which  marks  him  as  a  man  of  recognized 
judgment  and  of  exceptional  opportunities  for  obser- 
vation. 

There  are  some  things  the  man  on  the  field  can  know 
better  than  any  student  of  the  event;  but  it  does  not 
follow  that  the  soldier  who  fought  at  Gettysburg,  oi  even 
the  commander  of  a  brigade,  can  write  a  more  accurate 
description  than  a  historian  born  since  the  event.  It 
is  well  recognized  that  no  man  can  write  an  authorita- 
ive  history  of  his  own  times;  he  can  only  furnish  the  raw 
material  which  later  historians  can  use  in  forming  un- 
biased judgments.  Still  this  is  not  true  in  the  popular 
mind,  and  one  should  hesitate  to  quote,  let  us  say,  a 
recent  historian  against  General  Lee.  If  this  be  neces- 
sary he  should  explain  the  historian's  advantages. 

6.  Is  your  authority  speaking  an  unbiased  judgment? 
If  he  speaks  as  a  partisan,  an  advocate,  or  from  self- 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  345 

interest  or  prejudice,  we  discount  his  utterance;  for  we 
assume  that,  though  he  may  be  capable  and  honest, 
he  cannot  "see  straight,"  even  on  a  matter  of  pure  fact. 
Evidence  for  the  side  he  favors  looks  very  important  to 
him,  and  evidence  against  his  side  seems  unworthy  atten- 
tion. Do  not  quote,  therefore,  the  opinion  of  a  ship- 
builder on  shipping  subsides,  or  that  of  either  the  president 
of  a  temperance  union  or  the  owner  of  a  brewery  on 
prohibition.^ 

When  feasible,  quote  the  words  of  men  known  as  im- 
partial investigators.  Often  one  can  draw  from  govern- 
ment documents  and  other  standard  reports,  such  as  the 
Report  of  the  Industrial  Commission,  census  reports,  or 
the  Statesman's  Yearbook.  These  works  will  generally  be 
accepted  as  to  facts,  not  necessarily  as  to  opinions. 
There  are  other  works  that  have  general  acceptance,  such 
as  Bryce's  American  Commonwealth,  which  vdW  be  taken, 
not  as  final,  but  as  weighty  authority,  containing  the  obser- 
vations of  a  well  informed,  unprejudiced,  keen  and  sym- 
pathetic foreigner. 

The  nature  of  the  question  at  issue  is  important. 
Any  reputable  scientist  or  historian  will  be  accepted  as  to 
established  facts,  but  not  necessarily  as  to  disputed  facts 
and  opinions.  Woodrow  Wilson  has  written  of  Macaulay 
as  an  historian '} 

"]\Iacaulay  the  Whig,  subtly  turning  narrative  into 
argument,  and  making  history  the  vindication  of  a  party. 
The  mighty  narrative  is  a  great  engine  of  proof.  It  is  not 
told  for  its  ovra  sake.  It  is  evidence  summed  up  in  order 
to  justify  a  judgment.  We  detect  the  tone  of  the  advocate, 
and  though  if  we  are  just  we  must  deem  him  honest, 
we  cannot  deem  him  safe." 

Very  effective  at  times  is  a  statement  from  one  who 
naturally    inclines    to    the    opposition.     Mr.    Roosevelt 

^Cf.  Foster,  Argumentation  and  Debating,  p.  64. 
^Mere  Literature  and  Other  Essays,  p.  168. 


346  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

began  an  article  in  1912:  "The  Chicago  Evening  Pout 
and  the  IndianapoUs  Star  were  originally  Taft  papers. 
They  believed  that  the  voters  ought  to  choose  Mr.  Taft 
over  me  in  the  primaries."  He  then  proceeds  to  tell  how 
these  paj^ers  charged  dishonesty  against  the  Republican 
National  Committee  in  deciding  contests  o\'er  the  election 
of  delegates  to  the  Republican  National  convention. 
The  presumption  was  that  these  papers  had  made  these 
charges  only  upon  strong  evidence.  Reform  of  court 
procedure  would  not  be  much  advanced  by  citing  in  its 
favor  men  who  are  continually  finding  fault,  in  a  radical 
spirit,  with  whatever  is;  but  when  such  well-known  con- 
servative lawyers  as  Ex-President  Taft,  Elihu  Root  and 
Alton  B.  Parker  unite  in  denouncing  the  present  pro- 
cedure, we  feel  that  there  must  be  great  justification. 

The  admissions  of  an  opponent  are  also  weighty. 
Suffragists  rejoiced  to  note  this  newspaper  item: 

"Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot,  President  Emeritus  of  Harvard  University, 
who  has  long  been  an  anti-suffragist,  surprised  the  Women's  City  Club 
of  Boston  recently  with  some  warm  suffrage  arguments.  'The  hold 
of  women  on  public  questions  is  ideal,  etc' " 

7.  Has  the  authority  been  given  credence  by  opponents? 
This  is  not  meant  to  imply  that  any  authority  used  by  an 
opponent  must  thereafter  be  accepted  by  them;  but  if 
they  have  put  much  stress  upon  an  authority,  they  at 
least  have  difficulty  in  rejecting  him,  when  cited  by  others. 

8.  When  and  where  did  your  authority  express  himself.'^ 
At  what  period  of  his  life.^  Before  or  after  investigation 
and  experience?  Woodrow  Wilson  the  governor  of 
New  Jersey  begged  leave  to  withdravv^  the  opinion  of 
Woodrow  Wilson  the  Princeton  scholar,  upon  direct 
primaries.  Was  the  scientist  you  quote  expressing  a 
deliberate  judgment,  or  giving  rein  to  his  fancy,  or  speak- 
ing facetiously,  as  did  Dr.  Osier  when  he  caused  so  much 
mistaken    agitation    by    declaring   that    men    should    be 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  347 

chloroformed  at  sixty?  Was  the  statement  made  in  a 
pohtical  campaign,  or  after  the  dust  had  settled?  In  the 
midst  of  conflict,  or  with  historical  perspective? 

9.  In  what  manner  did  the  alleged  authority  express 
himself?  In  a  speech?  If  so,  formal  or  informal?  In  a 
newspaper  article  or  interview?  In  a  carefully  edited 
review?  Or  in  a  serious  volume?  Book  covers  do  not 
change  lies  into  truth,  or  fallacies  into  reason;  but  we  are 
certainly  the  more  impressed  by  a  statement  the  more 
careful  its  preparation  and  the  more  permanent  its  form. 

_  10.  i'*Is  too  great  reliance  placed  on  one  authority? 
Writers  and  speakers  seldom  address  a  group  of  people  who 
are  willing  to  accept  the  testimony  of  any  one  man  as  final 
.  .  .  .  The  concurrent  testimony  of  two  or  more 
authorities  to  the  same  essentials,  where  there  has  been 
apparently  no  opportunity  or  motive  for  previous  agree- 
ment, strengthens  the  probability  of  truth.  .  .  . 
An  example  may  be  taken  from  an  address  by  Dr.  Dudley 
A.  Sargent  before  the  New  England  Association  of  Colleges 
and  Preparatory  Schools: 

"  'Criminals,  dullards,  the  feeble-minded,  and  the  insane  as  a  class 
are  considerably  below  the  average  normal  individual  in  physique, 
as  shown  by  height  and  weight.  ...  In  the  year  1893,  Dr.  William 
T.  Porter  examined  some  thirty  thousand  children  who  were  in  the  public 
schools  of  St.  Louis.  He  found  that,  among  pupils  of  the  same  age, 
the  average  height  and  Aveight  of  those  who  were  of  the  higher  grades 
was  greater  than  that  of  those  who  were  in  the  lower  grades.  .  .  . 
This  announcement  called  forth  considerable  criticism  at  the  time.  .  . 
It  may  be  of  interest,  therefore,  to  note  that  Dr.  Porter's  conclusions 
have  since  been  confirmed  by  the  observations  made  by  Dr.  Hastings 
in  Omaha,  Nebraska,  Dr.  Byer  in  Cambridge,  Dr.  Christopher  in 
Chicago,  and  by  Dr.  Leharzig  in  St.  Petersburg,  Russia.  In  the  face 
of  such  a  body  of  concurrent  statistics  from  different  parts  of  this  country 
and  Europe,  no  one  can  doubt  for  a  moment  the  natural  relationship 
between  a  vigorous  brain  and  a  vigorous  body.'  " 

A  scientist  supports  his  statements  with  a  long  list  of 
authorities,  quoted  at  length.  The  reader  may  skip 
all  he  does  not  care  to  read.  But  in  public  speech,  while 
all  I  have  quoted  from  President  Foster  is  sound,  we  must 

^Foster's  Argumentation  and  Debating,  p.   67. 


348  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

beware  of  boring  our  hearers  who  cannot  so  readily  escape. 
You  will  notice  that  audiences  rarely  listen  well  to  long 
extracts,  unless  the  reading  is  very  good  indeed.  Choose 
out  the  best  of  your  possible  authorities,  and  make  your 
quotations  as  brief  and  as  much  to  the  point  as  is  practic- 
able, having  due  regard  for  the  other  requirements  for 
the  good  use  of  authorities. 

11.  Is  your  use  of  authority  explicit.^  In  the  first  place, 
it  is  usually  well  to  state  who  your  authority  is  and  where 
the  statement  used  is  to  be  found,  unless  this  is  obviously 
unnecessary,  as  in  case  of  familiar  quotations  from  Shakes- 
peare or  the  Bible.  Foster^  properly  condemns  such 
phrases  as  these: 

Statistics  gathered  with  great  care  show — 

Many  proper  men  agree — 

Competent  authorities  say — 

We  could  give  hundreds  of  cases  to  show — 

"It  is  a  bare  assertion  to  say  that  the  number  of  establishments 
maintaining  the  ten-hour  day  is  increasing.  To  say  that  you  have  the 
statement  on  'good  authority'  is  no  better.  To  say  that  you  depend 
for  authority  on  the  words  of  Carroll  D.  Wright  is  one  step  in  advance. 
Still  the  reference  is  not  sufficiently  definite.  It  would  be  better  to  say: 
'Carroll  D.  Wright,  formerly  United  States  Commissioner  of  Labor, 
says,  in  the  introduction  to  his  annual  report  for  1904,  that  the  number 
of  establishments  maintaining  the  ten-hour  day  is  increasing.'  " 

In  the  second  place,  it  is  better  practice  to  quote  the 
words  of  your  authority,  when  this  is  feasible,  than  to 
give  a  paraphrase.  Paraphrases  give  opportunity  for 
some  of  the  worst  trickery  of  debaters,  in  the  way  of 
garbling  and  distorting  the  statements  of  authorities.  It  is 
frequently  profitable  to  demand  or  to  look  up  the  origi- 
nals of  an  opponent's  paraphrases.  Whoever  paraphrases 
the  statements  of  others,  under  circumstances  in  which 
he  may  he  tempted  to  distort,  lays  himself  open  to 
the  suspicion  of  thoughtful  men.     Even  the  most  honest 

^Argumentation  and  Debating,  p.  59. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  349 

of  debaters  will  color  such  restatements  with  their  own 
prejudices.  There  are,  of  course,  times  when  strictness 
is  unnecessary;  but  at  best  the  paraphraser  makes  him- 
self the  authority,  and  he  should  be  confident  that  he 
will  be  accepted  in  that  role. 

You  will  note  in  the  quotation  from  Dr.  Sargent  above,  that  the 
speaker  in  citing  the  findings  of  Dr.  Porter  does  not  give  his  words, 
or  state  where  they  may  be  found;  and  that  in  giving  supporting  testi- 
mony of  other  investigators  he  merely  declares  their  findings  were  in 
harmony  with  Dr.  Porter's.  Dr.  Sargent  is  speaking  before  a  body 
little  likely  to  question  his  statements  of  fact.  The  point  under  discus- 
sion is  definite  and  not  liable  to  be  colored  by  prejudice.  Furthermore, 
there  may  have  been  those  present  or  among  the  probable  readers  of 
the  paper  on  its  publication,  who  would  challenge  any  misstatement. 
There  are  times  when  a  statement  made  in  public  acquires  a  certain 
validity  from  the  fact  that  its  author  would  hardly  risk  the  exposure 
of  misstatements.  Nevertheless,  I  believe  that,  even  in  this  case, 
more  explicit  reference  to  the  authorities  would  have  been  wise. 

In  some  college  debates  upon  "the  popular  review  of  judicial  deci- 
sions," speakers  persistently  rattled  ofiF  lists  of  cases  which  they  declared 
illustrated  how  the  courts  refuse,  or  are  unable,  under  the  "due  process 
clause"  of  the  Constitution,  to  do  justice  to  workingmen.  No  state- 
ments of  the  facts  of  the  cases,  and  not  even  citations  from  the  opinions, 
were  made.  Such  use  of  authority  should  influence  only  the  simplest; 
and  its  effect  should  certainly  be  destroyed  for  all  by  a  simple  challenge. 

Let  me  here  register  a  protest  against  the  practice  of  young  debaters 
of  waving  aloft  a  letter  and  shouting,  "I  hold  in  my  hand  a  letter  from 
the  Honorable  Silas  Bunk,  Member  of  Congress  from  Bumkum,  and  he 
says  the  tariff  is  a  tax!"  Not  the  least  of  the  objections  to  this  practice 
is  the  nuisance  these  debaters  commit  in  deluging  men  of  prominence 
with  requests  for  opinions  on  all  sorts  of  questions.  They  frequently 
ask  for  matter  that  would  cost  days  of  preparation.  They  usually  get 
the  vaguest  of  replies,  of  extremely  little  value. 

This  same  sort  of  a  debater  often  holds  up  a  ponderous  tome,  makes  a 
loose  statement  in  regard  to  its  contents,  and  then  stalks  across  and 
slams  it  down  on  the  table  of  his  opponents  with  a  challenge  to  refute 
his  statements, — a  little  task  which  would  require  some  hours  of  read- 
ing. In  a  recent  debate  the  members  of  one  team  simply  carried  great 
books  under  their  arms,  without  opening  them  or  making  a  single  definite 
reference  to  their  contents.  This  would  seem  to  be  carrying  the  game  of 
"bluff"  to  its  logical  extreme. 


350  [PUBLIC  SPEAKING' 

12.  Are  you  citing  authority  to  support  what  needs 
support?  The  fact  that  one  has  a  good  citation  should 
not  lead  him  to  use  it  where  no  support  is  needed,  or  where 
there  is  ample  support  of  a  stronger  sort. 

The  above  are  the  more  important  considerations  which 
affect  the  use  of  authorities.  If  one  says  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  support  the  use  of  authorities  with  such  care 
as  is  indicated,  the  answer  is  that  the  degree  of  care 
depends  upon  the  circumstances  of  each  case;  but  that 
in  no  case  is  there  any  use  of  citing  authorities  in  such  a 
way  that  they  will  not  be  accepted.  But  frequently, 
after  all,  an  authority  may  be  cited  effectually  in  a  very 
simple  way.  When  you  say,  "General  Grant  states  in  his 
Memoirs  at  page  503 — "  you  have  said  all  that  can  be 
said;  not  that  Grant  is  always  final  authority,  but  that 
nothing  further  would  add  weight  to  your  citation. 

Attacking  Authorities.  We  should  not  be  unduly 
awed  by  authorities  when  they  are  cited  against  us. 
There  are  some  which  before  some  audiences  it  is  useless 
to  attack.  Before  most  audiences  the  authority  of  the 
Bible  is  final;  but  Scripture  has  often  been  answered  with 
Scripture.  Very"  often  we  can  show  that  a  quotation 
taken  from  unimpeachable  authority  does  not  mean, 
taken  \\'ith  its  context  or  under  the  circumstances  of  its 
utterance,  what  it  has  been  made  to  mean;  or  we  may  be 
able  to  show  that  the  one  quoted  later  changed  his  mind. 

If  one  is  sure  of  his  ground,  he  may  attempt  to  refute 
the  opinion  of  almost  any  authority.  This  one  should 
do  modestly,  but  without  apology,  setting  forth  facts 
and  arguments  which  do  overcome  the  great  man's  opin- 
ion. After  all,  authorities  are  rarely  infallible,  and 
the  most  firmly  held  opinions  of  the  greatest  thinkers 
are  toppled  over.  The  science  and  philosophy  of  yester- 
day are  the  exploded  theories  of  to-day,  and  the  supersti- 
tions of  to-morrow.     Darwin  no  longer  has  the  last  word 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  351 

on  evolution.  One  should  not  let  himself  be  clubbed 
into  submission  with  great  names.  If  Shakespeare  is 
hurled  at  him,  he  may  point  out  that  Shakespeare  spoke 
in  many  characters,  and  that  it  is  impossible,  in  most 
cases,  to  determine  what  the  playwright  really  believed. 
If  the  great  name  be  Washington,  one  may  express  his 
respect  for  the  Father  of  his  Country,  and  yet  apply 
certain  tests;  as.  Did  Washington,  in  uttering  the  words 
quoted,  have  in  mind  just  such  a  situation  as  we  face? 
One  may  venture,  with  care,  to  ask  why  Washington 
should  be  assumed  to  have  had  a  wisdom  equal  to  guiding 
us  in  all  respects  to-day,  a  "^^isdom  he  would  not  have 
claimed  for  a  moment.  Why  should  it  be  thought  that 
Monroe,  or  John  Quincy  Adams,  should  guide  us  in  deal- 
ing ■v\'ith  Mexico? 

We  must,  however,  take  cognizance  of  the  danger  from 
laying  ourselves  open  to  the  sneer,  *'He  thinks  he  knows 
more  than  Washington!"  In  one  short  speech  the  task 
of  overcoming  a  great  name  may  be  too  difficult  to  at- 
tempt. Frequently  it  is  best  to  ignore  an  authorit}^  which 
has  great  influence,  rather  than  to  emphasize  its  import- 
ance by  futile  attack.  Prove  your  case  otherwise;  or 
hurl  greater  authority,  or  a  large  number  of  good  authori- 
ties, at  your  opponent's  position. 

There  are  not  many  who  would  venture  so  far  as  did  Webster,  in  the 
following  incident,  which  illustrates  the  importance  of  the  reputation 
of  the  speaker  who  defies  authority:^ 

"In  the  celebrated  Smith  Will  trial,  his  antagonist,  Mr.  Choate, 
quoted  a  decision  of  Lord  Chancellor  Camden.  In  his  reply,  Webster 
argued  against  its  validity  as  though  it  were  a  proposition  laid  down  by 
Mr.  Choate.  'But  it  is  not  mine,  it  is  Lord  Camden's,'  was  the  instant 
retort.  Webster  paused  for  half  a  minute,  and  then,  with  his  eye 
fixed  on  the  presiding  judge,  he  replied:  'Lord  Camden  was  a  great 
judge;  he  is  respected  by  every  American,  for  he  was  on  our  side  in 
the  Revolution;  but,  may  it  please  your  honor,  I  differ  from  Lord  Cam- 
den.' There  was  hardly  a  lawyer  in  the  United  States  who  could  have 
made  such  a  statement  without  exposing  himself  to  ridicule;    but  it 

^Whipple,  Webster  as  a  Master  of  English  Style. 


352  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

did  not  seem  at  all  ridiculous,  when  the  T   stood  for   Daniel  Web- 
ster." 

The  following  from  Lincoln,  in  discussing  the  Dred  Scott  Decision 
by  the  Supreme  Court,  is  at  once  an  instance  of  a  bold  facing  of  an  impos- 
ing  authority,  and,  as  Foster  points  out,  a  statement  of  how  such  an 
authority  may  be  tested.  If  memory  serves,  both  Bryan  and  Roosevelt 
have  used  this  passage  to  support  them  in  questioning  decisions  of  this 
court. 

"Judicial  decisions  are  of  greater  or  less  authority  as  precedents 
according  to  circumstances.  That  this  should  be  so  accords  both  with 
common  sense  and  the  customary  understanding  of  the  legal  profession. 

"If  this  important  decision  had  been  made  by  the  unanimous  concur- 
rence of  the  judges,  and  without  any  apparent  partisan  bias,  and  in 
accordance  with  legal  public  expectation  and  with  the  steady  practice 
of  the  departments  throughout  our  history,  and  had  been  in  no  part 
based  on  assumed  historical  facts,  which  are  not  really  true;  or,  if  want- 
ing in  some  of  these,  it  had  been  before  the  court  more  than  once  and 
had  there  been  affirmed  and  reaffirmed  through  a  course  of  years,  it 
might  then  be,  perhaps  would  be,  factious,  nay  even  revolutionary, 
not  to  acquiesce  in  it  as  a  precedent. 

"But  when,  as  is  true,  we  find  it  wanting  in  all  these  claims  to  the 
public  confidence,  it  is  not  factious,  it  is  not  even  disrespectful,  to  treat 
it  as  not  having  yet  quite  established  a  settled  doctrine  for  the  country." 

Lincoln,  of  course,  substantiated  and  amplified  the  assertions  of 
this  compact  passage.  This  necessity  of  opposing  a  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  was  a  serious  burden  upon  Lincoln,  and  again  and  again 
in  the  debates  he  defends  himself.     In  his  debate  at  Quincy  he  says: 

"We  do  not  propose  that  when  Dred  Scott  has  been  decided  to  be  a 
slave  by  the  court,  we,  as  a  mob,  will  decide  him  to  be  free.  .  .  . 
We  propose  so  resisting  as  to  have  the  decision  reversed  if  we  can,  and 
a  new  judicial  rule  established  upon  this  subject." 

At  Galesburgh,  he  cites  authorities  that  Douglas  is  bound  to  respect 
as  a  Democrat: 

"Jefferson  said  that  'Judges  are  as  honest  as  other  men,  and  not  more 
so.'  And  he  said,  substantially,  'that  whenever  a  free  people  should  give 
up  in  absolute  submission  to  any  department  of  government,  retaining 
for  themselves  no  appeal  from  it,  their  liberties  were  gone.'  " 

At  Ottawa  Lincoln  not  only  cited  famous  Democrats,  but  made 
Douglas  himself  furnish  a  precedent: 

"This  man  sticks  to  a  decision.  .  .  .  not  because  he  says  it  is 
right  in  itself.  .  .  .  but  because  it  has  been  decided  by  the  court; 
and  ...  a  decision  of  the  court  is  to  him  a  'Thus  saith  the  Lord.' 
.  .  .  It  is  nothing  that  I  point  out  to  him  that  his  great  prototype. 
General  Jackson,  did  not  believe  in  the  binding  force  of  decisions.  It 
is  nothing  that  Jefferson  did  not  so  believe.     ...     I  will  tell  him. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  353 

though,  that  he  now  claims  to  stand  on  the  Cincinnati  platform,  which 
affirms  that  Congress  cannot  charter  a  national  bank,  in  the  teeth  of  that 
old  standing  decision  that  Congress  can  charter  a  bank.  And  I  remind 
him  of  another  piece  of  history  on  the  question  of  respect  for  judicial 
decisions,  and  it  is  a  piece  of  Illinois  history,  belonging  to  a  time  when  a 
large  party  to  which  Judge  Douglas  belonged  were  displeased  with  a 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois.  ...  I  know  that  Judge 
Douglas  will  not  deny  that  he  was  then  in  favor  of  overslaughing 
that  decision  by  the  mode  of  adding  five  new  judges,  so  as  to  vote  down 
the  four  old  ones.  Not  only  so,  but  it  ended  in  the  Judge's  sitting  down 
on  the  very  bench  as  one  of  the  five  new  judges  to  break  down  the  four 
old  ones.  It  was  in  this  way  precisely  that  he  got  his  title  of  judge. 
Now,  when  the  Judge  tells  me  that  men  appointed  conditionally  to  sit 
as  members  of  a  court  will  have  to  be  catechised  beforehand  upon  some 
subject,  I  say,  'You  know.  Judge,  you  have  tried  it!' " 

Intercollegiate  debaters  have  an  overworked  trick  of  quoting  as 
authority  the  president  or  other  prominent  faculty  member  of  the 
institution  their  opponents  represent,  with  an  air  which  seems  to  say, 
"You  cannot  go  back  on  that!"  The  shallow  trick  was  neatly  exposed 
by  a  Pennsylvania  debater  in  a  contest  with  a  Cornell  team.  The 
Cornell  debaters  had  quoted  with  gusto  several  times  Dean  William 
Draper  Lewis  of  the  College  of  Law  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
in  favor  of  the  popular  review  of  judicial  decisions.  The  Pennsylvania 
leader  finally  replied:  "We  have  great  respect  for  Dean  Lewis  and  for 
his  opinions  on  questions  of  law;  but  we  do  not  feel  bound  to  accept 
his  authority  as  final  on  any  question  whatever.  'If  this  be  treason, 
make  the  most  of  it!'  " 

When  confronted  with  authorities  not  very  imposing 
in  the  eyes  of  your  audience,  the  case  is  less  difficult. 
They  may  be  ignored  at  times.  The  problem  is  to  judge 
whether  they  have  made  impression  enough  to  be  worth 
your  time,  or  the  risk  of  giving  them  importance  through 
an  attack.  The  methods  of  attack  in  general  should  be 
apparent  enough  from  the  questions  above. 

If  some  man  is  put  forward  as  authority  who  is  not 
well  known  and  whose  claim  to  be  an  authority  is  not  well 
supported,  the  simple  question,  Who  is  this  Smith? 
m.ay  suffice  to  destroy  the  effect  of  his  statements;  or 
one  may  proceed  at  once  to  show  how  little  grounds  there 
are  for  making  Smith  an  authority.  Unless  you  know 
his  pretensions  are  flimsy,  however,  you  run  the  risk  of 


354  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

an  effective  rejoinder  in  his  support,  and  your  question 
will  ha^'e  emphasized  his  importance. 

llie  question  of  prejudice  should  be  especially  noticed. 
The  intimation  that  an  authority  is  biased  is  so  destruc- 
tive to  his  influence,  that  the  charge  is  often  made  without 
good  reason.  But  the  fact  that  the  charge  of  bias  is 
made  unscrupulously  should  not  deter  us  in  a  clear  case 
from  questioning  an  authority  on  this  ground.  If  Macau- 
lay  were  quoted  on  a  question  of  English  history,  a  ques- 
tion disputed  by  Whigs  and  Tories,  it  would  be  fair  to  use 
the  statement  quoted  above  from  President  Wilson  in 
regard  to  Macaulay's  Whig  bias.  On  partisan  questions 
any  politician's  statements  are  open  to  attack. 

Authoritativeness  of  the  Speaker.  Not  only  will  cita- 
tions from  others  have  an  influence  in  securing  fair-minded 
attention  from  an  audience,  but  also  the  attitude,  reputa- 
tion and  characteristics  of  the  speaker  himself.  He, 
after  all,  is  usually  the  principal  authority  for  the  occa- 
sion. Nothing  helps  a  speaker  more  than  the  feeling 
upon  the  part  of  his  hearers  that  he  is  sound  and  trust- 
worthy. 

We  like  to  know,  first,  that  our  speaker  is  well_fitted 
to  treat  his  subject,  that  he  knows  what  he  is  talking 
about.  We  are  especially  pleased  if  his  investigation 
and  his  experiences  give  him  special  fitness.  We  like  to 
hear  an  engineer  who  has  had  a  part  in  building  the 
Panama  Canal  tell  of  its  construction.  At  times  it  is 
desirable  that  the  audience  be  told  of  a  speaker's  special 
fitness.  The  speaker  may  do  this  himself,  with  entire 
frankness  and  without  either  boasting  or  self -depreciation. 
Sometimes  the  facts  may  be  brought  out  indirectly,  as 
in  the  narrative  portion  of  an  address,  where  a  single  pro- 
noun may  suffice  to  let  the  audience  know  the  speaker 
witnessed  the  events  he  describes;  as,  "Our  party  was 
stationed  at  this  point."     Frequently  a  discreet  chairman 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  355 

will  make  a  statement  which,  without  puffery,  adds  to 
the  speaker's  prestige. 

In  most  cases  the  fact  that  one  comes  forward  to  speak  should  be 
sufficient  announcement  of  his  preparation.  Happy  is  the  speaker  who 
has  established  a  reputation  for  fulfilling  the  just  expectations  of  his 
audience  in  this  respect.  Student  speakers  in  a  class  in  public  speaking 
usually  need  no  announcement.  There  are,  however,  instances  in  which 
such  speakers  do  well  to  let  their  hearers  know  of  their  special  opportuni- 
ties for  information.  A  student  speaking  on  labor  problems  may  prop- 
erly refer  to  his  experiences  as  laborer,  foreman,  or  employer.  Or,  one 
speaking  on  a  Southern  question  would  gain  in  authority  by  such  an 
allusion  as,  "Down  in  my  home  state  of  Alabama." 

In  the  second  place,  a  speaker  is  much  assisted  by  a 
reputation  for  sound  judgment.  This  reputation  is 
gained  by  emotional  poise,  good  logic  and  wise  conclusions. 
Such  a  reputation  is  weakened  by  the  habit  of  rash  and 
exaggerated  statement.  "That  terrible  sanity  of  the 
average  man  is  always  watching  you,"  says  Barrett 
Wendell.^  If  you  recklessly  overstate  your  claims,  all 
your  statements  will  be  mistrusted.  Habitual  exaggera- 
tion on  your  part  will  lead  to  habitual  discounting  by 
your  hearers.  Claims  that  "votes  for  women"  will 
cure  all  the  ills  of  the  body  politic  have  hurt  rather  than 
helped  the  suffrage  propaganda. 

I  have  rarely  heard  a  speech  on  either  side  of  this  subject  which  did 
not  drive  me  into  opposition  by  its  extravagance.  "When  we  women 
get  the  ballot,  we  shall  make  impossible  all  these  dreadful  inequalities 
of  wages,"  says  one.  "When  women  go  to  the  polls  homes  will  become 
a  thing  of  the  past,"  says  an  opponent.  And  the  unexcitable  citizen, 
rejecting  all  this  exaggeration  and  losing  sight  of  the  importance  of  the 
problem,  says,  "Dear,  dear!  isn't  it  a^N'ful?  Let  'em  vote  if  they  are 
sure  they  want  to.     Well,  how's  business?" 

The  effect  of  exaggeration  in  argument  was  well  illustrated  when  a 
student  in  a  speech  on  Sulzer's  Impeachment,  in  the  fall  of  1913,  lauded 
the  former  governor  of  New  York  to  the  skies  and  described  his  enemies 
as  monsters  of  iniquity.  A  classmate  asked  to  comment  on  the  speech, 
said,  "It  was  a  good  speech,  but  I  was  not  in  the  least  convinced.'* 

^English  Composition,  p.  271. 


356  PUBLIC  SPE.\KING 

Condemnation  of  smoking  before  boys  (whose  fathers  may  be  smokers) 
in  terms  which  put  it  on  a  par  with  drunkenness,  is  not  efiFective,  Teach- 
ers who  treat  bad  usage  in  English  as  if  it  were  a  sin,  drive  pupils  to 
despise  all  care  in  expression.  Reasonableness  of  attitude  may  not 
produce  talk  that  sounds  so  strong,  but  it  accomplishes  more  than 
exaggeration. 

Extravagance  of  statement  repels  especially  the  consti- 
tutionally conservative,  increasing  their  natural  suspicion 
of  new  proposals.  It  also  repels  the  trained  thinkers, 
who  are  accustomed  to  looking  carefully  to  the  support 
of  assertions.  The  exaggerator  thus  loses  many  of  those 
in  the  neutral  division  of  his  audience.  Upon  those 
mildly  in  opposition  the  effect  of  exaggeration  is  often 
to  drive  them  into  more  active  opposition. 

Exaggerated  statements  are  especially  open  to  mis- 
understanding. Statements  that  may  have  been  accepted 
as  justifiable  in  the  heat  of  debate,  appear  in  a  different 
hght  in  the  morning  paper,  or  when  quoted  on  the  street. 
Misunderstood  and  misquoted,  they  may  travel  far  and 
win  for  their  author  the  reputation  of  being  unsafe. 
And  once  he  becomes  kno-wn  as  an  extremist,  a  man  not 
to  be  trusted,  while  he  may  draw  crowds  and  vdn  applause, 
he  wdll  not  find  open  to  him  the  ears  of  the  earnest  seekers 
after  truth,  the  honest,  moderate  progressive  who  brings 
things  to  pass.  No  doubt  the  agitator  has  his  place  in 
our  scheme  of  society,  beating  on  the  tom-toms  and  calling 
attention  to  wrongs;  but  the  Lincolns,  not  the  Phillipses, 
in  the  end  vnn  the  masses  of  men  and  carry  through 
reforms. 

The  exaggerator  plays  into  the  hands  of  his  opponents. 
First,  because  he  makes  it  so  easy  for  them  to  discredit 
him,  by  proving  the  un trustworthiness  of  his  statements. 
Falsus  in  uno,  falsus  in  omnibus,  is  a  proverb  audiences 
are  quick  to  accept.  Authorities  can  be  used  effectively 
against  the  exaggerator:    The  gentleman  says  that  the 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  857 

cruel  injustice  of  the  white  man  has  left  but  few  Indians 
in  his  native  land;  but  So  and  So,  in  such  and  such  a 
place,  declares  that  there  are  more  Indians  in  America 
to-day  than  in  the  days  of  Columbus.  In  the  second 
place,  the  exaggerator  makes  wilful  misrepresentation 
very  easy. 

That  the  danger  of  misrepresentation,  wilful  or  otherwise,  to  which  I 
have  several  times  referred,  is  real,  will  be  questioned  by  no  one  who  has 
passed  through  any  war  of  words.  A  review  of  the  Lincoln-Douglas 
Debates  wiU  show  how  even  a  man  so  careful  in  his  statements  as  Lincoln 
was  constantly  misrepresented  by  the  wily  Douglas.  See  especially 
the  debate  at  Alton  where  Lincoln  charges  Douglas  with  garbling  his 
statements,  challenging  him  "to  show  where  I  said  that  a  negro  should  be 
a  citizen,"  and  taking  the  utmost  pains  to  restate  his  position. 

Mrs.  Phillip  Snowdon,  the  eloquent  English  advocate  of  women's 
suffrage,  told  in  a  speech  of  reading  in  the  same  Scottish  paper  of  a 
man  who  for  stealing  two  overcoats  in  order  to  get  food  for  his  children 
was  given  a  sentence  of  six  months,  and  of  another  man  who  for  crimi- 
nally assaulting  a  little  girl  was  fined  five  shillings.  Before  proceeding 
to  her  criticisms  on  man-made  and  man-administered  law,  she  spoke 
very  deliberately  to  this  effect:  "Now,  mind  you,  it  is  wrong  to  steal 
overcoats.  Every  public  speaker  present  will  sympathize  with  me 
when  I  say  I  do  not  wish  to  be  represented  as  saying  anything  to  the 
contrary.     It  is  wrong  to  steal  overcoats." 

Exaggeration  is  particularly  offensive  when  it  takes  the 
form  of  opprobrious  epithets  applied  to  the  institutions 
and  individuals  one  may  be  opposing;  as  when  Garri- 
son called  the  Constitution  *'a  covenant  with  Hell."  A 
suffrage  agitator  recently  referred  to  *'our  mossgrown 
Constitution;"  but  when  an  auditor  rose  to  protest, 
she  promptly  retracted  the  term  and  declared  she  meant 
no  disrespect!  Abusive  terms,  especially  when  applied  to 
persons,  turn  sympathy  from  the  speaker.  Even  that 
savagely  extravagant  denouncer,  Wendell  Phillips,  once 
checked  Charles  Remond,  who  had  declared  that  "George 
Washington  was  a  villain."  "Charles,"  said  Phillips, 
"the  epithet  is  not  felicitous." 


358  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

It  is  not  possible,  of  course,  to  emphasize  both  sides  of 
a  truth  at  once,  and  overemphasis  in  vigorous  statements 
is  ahnost  inevitable.  Indeed,  the  preceding  paragraphs, 
taken  alone,  exaggerate  the  evils  of  exaggeration.  We 
have  already  noted  that  exaggeration  has  its  place  in 
handling  crowds  and  mobs.  Positiveness  is  an  element 
in  authoritativeness.  If  a  speaker  is  not  sure  of  his 
ground,  his  hearers  are  little  likely  to  accept  his  statements 
or  conclusions.  The  world  listens  to  the  man  who  knows; 
it  does  not  follow  doubting  leaders.  The  speaker,  there- 
fore, should  limit  his  statements  with  as  few  qualifying 
clauses  as  is  consistent  with  truth.  The  w^ay  to  gain 
the  force  of  positiveness,  however,  is  not  to  make  reckless 
assertions,  but  to  make  sure  of  one's  ground.  Few  of 
us  would  care  to  say  with  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  "I  am 
never  wrong  on  a  subject  I  have  investigated";  but  we 
should  by  investigation  and  by  consulting  authorities, 
so  far  as  possible  obey  the  injunction,  "Be  sure  you  are 
right,  and  then  go  ahead."  We  should  obey  both  parts, 
too;  that  is,  having  made  sure,  we  should  go  ahead  with 
conviction  and  confidence. 

Hyperbole,  that  is,  exaggeration  understood  as  such,  is 
effective  for  arousing  one's  adherents,  who  need  no  argu- 
ments as  to  the  correctness  of  the  speaker's  position, 
but  do  need  enthusiasm.  When  the  German  Emperor 
proclaims  that  Germany  will  fight  while  a  single  German 
soldier  has  breath  in  his  body,  we  understand  that  he  is 
speaking  the  language  of  strong  emotion,  and  is  inciting 
his  people  to  great  sacrifices. 

A  painful  degree  of  accuracy  is  not  demanded  of  a  public  speaker. 
$1,897,089  may  be  spoken  of  as  $2,000,000,  or  as  millions,  unless 
accuracy  is  important.  Honesty,  in  public  as  in  private  speech,  depends 
upon  the  understanding  of  one's  hearers.  When  Wendell  Phillips 
shouted  to  an  angry  audience  as  he  turned  to  the  reporters,  "Howl  on; 
I  speak  to  thirty  millions  here!"  nobody  took  him  up  on  the  ground  that 
he  could  not  possibly  reach  the  entire  population  through  the  papers. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  359 

Again,  inaccurate  words  may  express  essential  truth  better  than  accurate 
words.  When  a  speaker  says  that  the  assassination  of  Lincoln  phmged 
the  country  into  profound  grief  and  shocked  the  civiHzed  world,  we  do 
not  understand  him  to  mean  that  all  Americans  wept  and  lost  their 
appetites,  and  that  the  business  of  the  world  was  checked;  yet  the  words 
do  convey  truly  enough  the  effect  of  that  calamity  upon  the  calloused 
indifference  of  mankind. 

"Hyperbole  may  assist  precision,  even  when  it  falsifies  fact.     Said 
John  Randolph  when  seeking  to  provoke  a  duel  with  Henry   Clay, 
'A  hyperbole  for  meanness  is   an   ellipsis   for   Clay.'     Though  false  to 
fact  it  was  not  so  to  the  real  meaning  of  the  speaker."^ 

As  Genung  says,^  "Hyperbole  is  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  while 
the  observer  may  conceive  an  object  vividly  there  is  a  shrinkage  in  the 
reader's  apprehension  of  it.  Its  exaggeration  does  not  mislead;  it 
simply  allows  for  the  shrinkage."  But  as  the  same  writer  points  out, 
hyperbole  easily  runs  into  bombast,  or  makes  its  subject  ludicrous. 
Listen  to  a  student  of  mine,  speaking  in  dead  earnest  on  the  bribery  of 
city  officials  by  street  railway  companies:  "These  examples  should 
stir  your  cold  American  blood  to  white  heat!  Red  hot  flames  of  anger 
should  issue  from  your  mouths  as  from  fiery  furnaces!  If  you  are  true 
Americans  you   will   do   something!" 

The  Strength  of  Understatement.  We  are  now  ready 
to  note,  what  young  speakers  are  often  slow  to  learn, 
that  understatement  is  sometimes  more  forceful  and  per- 
suasive than  overstatement.  Perhaps  no  speaker  ever 
had  more  authority  than  Webster.  After  hearing  one  of 
his  short  speeches  a  farmer  said,  "He  didn't  say  much, 
but  every  word  weighed  a  pound."  One  element  in  this 
weightiness  is  explained  in  the  following  from  Marsh  :^ 

"It  was  a  maxim  of  Webster's,  that  violence  of  language 
was  indicative  of  feebleness  of  thought  and  want  of 
reasoning  power,  and  it  was  his  practice  to  understate 
rather  than  overstate  the  strength  of  his  confidence  in 
the  soundness  of  his  own  arguments,  and  the  logical 
necessity  of  his  conclusions.  He  kept  his  auditor  con- 
stantly in  advance  of  him,  by  suggestion  rather  than  by 
strong  asserveration,  by  a  calm  exposition  of  considera- 

^Phelps  and  Frink,  Rhetoric,  p.  8:2.  ^Working  Principles  of  Rhetoric, 
p.  99.         ^Lectures  on  the  English  Language,  p.  235. 


360  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

tions  which  ought  to  excite  feehng  in  the  heart  of  both 
speaker  and  hearer,  not  by  an  undignified  and  theatrical 
exhibition  of  passion  in  himself." 

Do  not  indulge  much  in  the  exclamatory^  style,  which 
is  a  besetting  sin  of  some  preachers.  They  deliver  whole 
sermons  in  which  the  "scare  mark"  (!)  is  the  only  appro- 
priate punctuation.  This  produces  the  style  described 
as  the  "feeble  forcible."  I  should  be  sorrj^  to  have  my 
urging  to  make  expression  \dvid  taken  as  urging  this 
strained  form  of  statement;  though  the  exclamation, 
sparingly  used,   may  be  effective. 

I  heard  a  man  who  had  recently  seen  much  of  the  horrors  of  the 
European  war.  He  was  evidently  greatly  moved  by  his  experiences, 
and  we  responded  to  his  earnestness  and  to  the  interest  of  his  theme; 
but  the  effect  was  much  lessened  by  his  constantly  telling  us  how  greatly 
the  scenes  moved  him  rather  than  telling  us  in  simple  terms  ichat  moved 
him.  Another  speaker  upon  the  same  theme  impressed  me  much  more. 
He  had  the  skill  to  tell  just  what  he  had  seen.  This  he  did  very  inter- 
estingly, without  a  single  expression  of  horror;  yet  the  final  impression 
was  a  strong  disgust  for  modern  warfare.  Simple  vividness  was  suffi- 
cient for  facts  that  could  not  be  exaggerated. 

The  following  from  a  speech  by  Lowell  at  a  dinner  given  him  in 
London  in  1888,  is  cited  by  Brander  Matthews  as  "a  most  felicitious 
example  of  the  value  of  adroit  understatement."^ 

"I  have  been  told  often  enough  to  remember  that  my  countrymen  are 
apt  to  think  that  they  are  always  in  the  right — that  they  are  apt  to  look 
at  their  own  side  of  the  question  only.  Now,  this  characteristic  conduces 
certainly  to  peace  of  mind  and  imperturbability  of  judgment,  whatever 
other  merits  it  may  have.  [He  paused  a  moment,  and  then  added:] 
I  am  sure  I  don't  know  where  we  got  it — do  you.'*" 

Wendell  Phillips,  that  "infernal  machine  set  to  music,"  showed  in  his 
oration  on  Toussaint  L'Ouverture  that  he  knew  well  the  value  of  restraint 
of  expression  in  the  midst  of  a  speech  which,  as  a  whole,  must  have  im- 
pressed his  hearers  in  1861  as  a  marvel  of  exaggeration.  He  no  doubt 
realized  that  understatement  is  a  most  valuable  means  of  giving  exag- 
geration plausibilty.  It  is  worth  while  to  quote  a  considerable  passage 
as  an  example  of  good  oral  style: 

"Let  us  pause  a  moment  and  find  something  to  measure  him  by. 
You  remember  Macaulay  says,  comparing  Cromwell  with  Napoleon, 

^Notes  on  Speech-Making,  p.  70. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  361 

that  Cromwell  showed  the  greater  military  genius,  if  we  consider  that 
he  never  saw  an  army  till  he  was  forty;  while  Napoleon  was  educated 
from  a  boy  in  the  best  military  schools  in  Europe.  Cromwell  manu- 
factured his  own  army;  Napoleon  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  best  troops  Europe  ever  saw.  They  were 
both  successful;  but  says  Macaulay,  with  such  disadvantages,  the 
Englishman  showed  the  greater  genius.  Whether  you  allow  the  infer- 
ence or  not,  you  will  at  least  grant  that  it  is  a  fair  mode  of  measurement. 
Apply  it  to  Toussaint.  Cromwell  never  saw  an  army  till  he  was  forty; 
this  man  never  saw  a  soldier  till  he  was  fifty.  Cromwell  manufactured 
his  own  army — out  of  what.^  Englishmen, — the  best  blood  in  Europe. 
Out  of  the  middle  class  of  Englishmen, — the  best  blood  of  the  island. 
And  with  it  he  conquered  what.^^  Englishmen, — their  equals.  This 
man  manufactured  his  army  out  of  what.^  Out  of  what  you  call  the 
despicable  race  of  negroes,  debased,  demoralized  by  two  hundred  years 
of  slavery,  one  hundred  of  them  imported  into  the  island  within  four 
years,  unable  to  speak  a  dialect  intelligible  even  to  each  other.  Yet  out 
of  this  mixed  and,  as  you  say,  despicable  mass,  he  forged  a  thunderbolt 
and  hurled  it  at  what?  At  the  proudest  blood  in  Europe,  the  Spaniard, 
and  sent  him  home  conquered;  at  the  most  warlike  blood  in  Europe, 
the  French,  and  put  them  under  his  feet;  at  the  pluckiest  blood  in  Europe, 
the  English,  and  they  skulked  home  to  Jamaica.  Now  if  Cromwell  was 
a  general,  at  least  this  man  was  a  soldier." 

Had  Phillips  expressed  the  conclusion  one  is  bracing  himself  against, — 
that  Toussaint  was  a  greater  general  than  Cromwell  or  Napoleon, — 
one's  judgment  would  reject  the  claim  in  spite  of  the  plausible  argument; 
but  hearing  the  mild  assertion  that  Toussaint  was  a  soldier,  one  is 
prompted  to  exclaim,  by  a  sort  of  reaction,  "Nay,  he  was  much  more." 
We  see  here  two  reasons  for  the  force  of  understatement:  a  sense  of 
relief  that  the  claim  is  not  greater,  and  a  prompting  to  assert  more  than 
one  would  accept  from  the  speaker. 

Humor  and  Authority.  An  important  question  arises 
with  regard  to  the  influence  of  humor  upon  the  speaker's 
authority.  It  is  very  pleasing  to  acquire  the  reputation 
of  being  amusing,  but  not  so  pleasing  to  find  that  people 
refuse  to  take  one  seriously.  It  is  said  that  Mark  Twain 
felt  so  keenly  the  limitations  due  to  his  reputation,  that 
he  first  published  his  life  of  Joan  of  Arc  anonymously, 
so  that  it  would  not  be  taken  as  a  joke.  There  are  come- 
dians on  the  stage  eating  their  hearts  out  because  when 
they  attempt  serious  parts  their  public  insists  that  they 
are  funny.  There  is  a  public  man,  famous  as  an  after- 
dinner  speaker,  to  whose  attempts  at  serious  argument 


362  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

one's  chief  reaction  is,  "Hurry  up  and  tell  us  another 
story."  Your  "funny  man"  rarely  succeeds  in  politics. 
Mr.  Job  Hedges,  a  seridus  and  able  gentleman,  suffered 
in  his  campaign  for  the  governorship  of  New  York  in  1912, 
from  the  fact  that  in  several  earlier  campaigns  he  had 
served  as  the  humorist  to  warm  up  audiences  for  such 
serious  speakers  as  Governor  Hughes.  Genung  puts  the 
case  of  the  "funny  man"  well:^ 

"Men  will  consent  to  be  amused  by  him;  they  will 
come  in  crowds  to  laugh  at  his  wit  and  drollery;  but  when 
he  attempts  to  exhort  them  earnestly  they  cannot  easily 
realize  that  he  is  not  joking.  They  have  measured  his 
character  by  a  lightne-s  of  standard  that  he  cannot  easily 
surmount.  This  is  not  said  as  against  the  use  of  humor 
in  public  address;  it  merely  refers  to  the  use  of  humor 
as  the  staple  of  the  address.  It  should  be  knowai  that  if 
one  aspires  to  reputation  as  a  funny  man,  he  has  to  pay 
for  it  by  sacrificing  something  that  he  may  afterwards 
wish  he  had  cherished.  .  .  In  the  college  world,  too, 
men  inevitably  find  their  level.  I  have  seen  men  whose 
rising  to  speak  on  any  topic  before  their  classmates  only 
produced  a  broad  grin,  the  broader  as  the  speaker  at- 
tempted to  be  more  earnest.  These  men  had  been  too 
content  to  be  class  buffoons;  and  when  they  assumed  the 
solemn  role  their  classmates  judged  that  their  specific 
gravity  was  too  light  to  sustain  such  character,  and  they 
would  have  none  of  it." 

The  bearing  of  these  observations  upon  our  problem 
of  commanding  serious  attention  is  evident  enough.  Yet 
we  need  not  go  to  the  extreme  of  Ex-Senator  Beveridge 
who  seems  to  hold  that  humor  should  never  be  employed 
in  a  speech  of  serious  purpose.^  While  we  recognize  its 
dangers,  in  decreasing  a  speaker's  authority  and  also 
in  distracting  attention  when  improperly  used,  we  have 
also  noted  its  value  in  bringing  an  audience  into  a  desired 
mood,  so  that  they  may  be  willing  to  listen,  and  we  know 

^Practical  Rhetoric,  p.  451. 

^Reed's  Modern  Eloquence,  Vol,  XII. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  363 

well  the  power  of  well  used  humor  in  making  a  point 
"stick."  A  moderate  use  of  humor  is  not  at  all  inconsis- 
tent with  a  serious  purpose.  All  depends  upon  how  it  is 
used.  As  a  rule,  the  students  in  my  classes  are  much  too 
solemn,  and  a  joke  is  so  unusual  that  often  when  one  is 
attempted  by  a  student  speaker,  his  classmates  bhnk 
solenuily  without  recognizing  it;  for  a  joke,  you  must 
know,  is  most  appreciated  when  it  is  expected. 

One  hardly  knows  what  to  make  of  Senator  Beveridge's  statements 
that,  "To  find  a  joke  in  Webster  would  be  an  offense.  .  .  .  Lincoln's 
Gettysburg  address,  his  first  and  second  inaugurals,  his  speech  beginning 
the  Douglas  campaign  and  his  Cooper  Union  address  in  New  York  are, 
perhaps,  the  only  utterances  of  his  that  will  endure.  Yet  this  greatest 
of  story  tellers  since  iEsop  did  not  adorn  or  deface  one  of  these  great 
deliverances  with  a  story  or  any  form  of  humor."  It  is  true  the  reports 
of  Webster's  speeches  are  annotated  with  "Cheers"  and  "Great  ap- 
plause," and  that  you  will  look  long  for  "Laughter,"  but  you  will  find 
that.  There  is  in  a  speech  of  his  at  Rochester  much  ponderous  jesting 
about  the  high  falls  of  the  Genesee  River.  But  turn  to  the  speech 
generally  called  Webster's  greatest,  and  by  some  the  greatest  speech 
of  all  time,  the  Reply  to  Hayne.  No  speech  in  our  history  has  had  a 
more  serious  occasion  or  purpose;  yet  it  begins  humorously,  and  con- 
tains several  humorous  passages.  These  are  grim  jokes,  to  be  sure, 
but  still  they  are  plainly  marked  as  jokes,  and  no  doubt  were  intended 
to  relieve  somewhat  the  unavoidable  grimness  of  the  situation. 

One  is  glad  to  have  stress  laid  on  the  fact  that  Lincoln's  speeches 
are  serious  and  free  from  the  clownishness  sometimes  attributed  to  him. 
One  will  find  many  places  in  the  debates  with  Douglas  where  Lincoln 
has  made  humor  effective  for  his  argument,  though  no  places  where  he 
has  yielded  to  the  temptation  to  be  funny  for  the  sake  of  the  laugh 
only.  There  are  very  few  stories  and  those  briefly  put.  Of  course,  in  his 
inaugurals  and  at  Gettysburg  humor  would  have  been  as  much  out  of 
place  as  in  a  psalm.  But  look  at  the  other  speeches  mentioned.  It  is  a 
strange  sense  of  humor  that  finds  no  laugh  in  the  Springfield  speech. 

The  Cooper  Union  speech  has  already  been  cited.  Throughout  his 
very  serious  argument  that  the  fathers  were  not  Douglas  Democrats 
there  runs  a  vein  of  humor,  a  sort  of  unexpressed  chuckle  over  the  dilem- 
ma into  which  he  is  placing  his  opponent.  One  will  look  long  to  find  a 
better  example  of  wit  employed  to  destroy  a  somewhat  slippery  fallacy, 
than  this  from  the  Cooper  Union  speech: 


364  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

"But  you  will  not  abide  the  election  of  a  Republican  president!  In 
that  supposed  event,  you  say,  you  will  destroy  the  Union;  and  then, 
you  say,  the  great  crime  of  having  destroyed  it  will  be  upon  us!  That 
is  cool.  A  highwayman  holds  a  pistol  to  my  ear,  and  mutters  through 
his  teeth,  'Stand  and  deliver,  or  I  shall  kill  you,  and  then  you  will  be  a 
murderer.' " 

The  authoritativeness  of  a  speaker  is  affected  also  by  his  personal 
qualities,  which  will  be  treated  below.  These  will  be  treated,  however, 
not  only  as  affecting  authoritativeness,  but  more  broadly  as  affecting 
directly  persuasiveness.  These  and  other  qualities  also  enter  into 
moral  character,  but  a  few  words  may  be  said  in  general  upon — 

Moral  Character  and  the  Speaker's  Influence.  Many 
writers  upon  the  influence  of  speakers  over  audiences 
have  emphasized  simple  goodness.  The  old  Roman 
Quintilian,  who  taught  oratory  in  the  first  centurj^  said, 
"An  orator  is  a  good  man  skilled  in  speaking."  It  is 
readily  seen  that  a  man  of  notoriously  bad  life  cannot  be 
an  effective  preacher  of  righteousness,  though  he  plead  like 
an  angel  of  light.  Nor  can  the  man  who  sets  up  standards 
of  morality  widely  differing  from  the  prevailing  standards, 
plead  effectively  for  any  cause,  though  it  may  have  little 
relation  to  his  manner  of  living. 

Nevertheless,  we  must  take  exception  to  Quintilian 's 
"good  man,"  as  certain  successful  orators  come  to  mind; 
or,  indeed,  to  any  sweeping  statement  of  the  sort.  Hon- 
esty compels  us  to  acknowledge  that  many  men  not  good 
have  been  very  successful  speakers,  even  orators.  Much 
seems  to  depend  upon  the  particular  vices  charged.  A 
reputation  for  trickery,  cruelty,  or  treacherj^  to  women  is 
usually  destructive  of  popular  influence;  but  the  reputa- 
tion for  hard  drinking  and  carelessness  in  regard  to  debts 
which  "the  great  Daniel  Webster"  bore  (very  unjustly 
in  both  respects,  we  are  told),  did  not  destroy  an  influence 
which  it  is  an  inspiration  to  study,  nor  prevent  his  words 
being  read  and  pondered,  almost  as  was  the  Bible, 
beside  thousands  of  Northern  hearthstones.  Better  than 
QuintiHan's  saying,  I  like  Emerson's  w^ords,  "If  I  should 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  365 

make  the  shortest  hst  of  the  quaUfications  of  the  orator, 
I  should  begin  wdth  manhness,"  and  Beecher's  pithy 
dictum,  "Let  no  sneak  try  to  be  an  orator."  However 
much  the  orator  lacks  of  goodness,  he  will  rarely  be  found 
weak.     The  orator  is  a  leader,  and  weaklings  do  not  lead. 

Personality.  There  is  an  element  in  the  power  of 
a  speaker,  sometimes  called  "personal  m.agnetism," 
sometimes  "personality,"  which  can  be  recognized 
rather  than  directly  cultivated.  Why  Alcibiades,  INIira- 
beau,  Webster,  Clay;  or,  in  other  fields,  Mahomet, 
Napoleon,  Luther,  Brigham  Young,  and  Stonewall  Jack- 
son, exercised  the  fascination  they  did  over  men, 
has  been  explained  in  many  ways.  (Read,  if  you  like, 
the  chapter  on  Personality  in  Ross's  Social  Control.) 
No  explanation  '^dll  entirely  satisfy.  It  is  said  that  the 
art  of  fascinating  audiences  can  be  taught  by  mail. 
I  will  leave  it  to  mail  courses,  except  as  this  strange  power 
is  compounded  of  the  elements  of  character  and  methods 
which  we  treat  under  other  headings. 

Make  as  much  of  a  mystery  of  "magnetism"  as  we 
please,  it  probably  consists  only  of  an  unusual  combina- 
tion of  quite  understandable  characteristics.  Great 
leaders  have  been  men  of  imagination,  able  to  stir  the 
imagination  of  their  followers.  They  have  had  an  under- 
standing of  human  nature  and  a  sympathy  which  have 
enabled  them  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  view-points  and 
experiences  of  others,  to  touch  the  right  motives  and  arouse 
the  right  associations  in  their  minds.  They  have  been 
men  of  strength  and  positiveness  of  character,  knowing 
precisely  what  they  "^-ished  to  bring  about,  and  very 
determined  to  succeed. 

Personal  appearance  is  an  element  in  personality. 
Great  stature  is  no  doubt  an  advantage;  but  Webster, 
"the  godlike  Daniel,"  who  was  often  spoken  of  as  a  giant, 
was   of   only   moderate  height,  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 


366  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

a  leader  of  rare  influence,  whether  before  the  people  or  in 
the  Senate,  was  called  "the  Little  Giant,"  and  was  less  than 
five  feet  in  height.  Since  we  cannot  by  taking  thought 
add  to  our  stature,  discussion  of  height  is  not  of  importance, 
except  as  it  gives  opportunity  to  say  to  those  who  lack 
height:  Do  not  worry  about  the  lack,  and  do  not 
try^  to  increase  your  height  by  "standing  on  your  dignity"; 
in  other  words  do  not  call  attention  to  your  lack  by  a  strut. 
Real  dignity  of  bearing  can,  however,  be  developed  by 
slow  degrees,  by  the  development  of  courtesy  and  self- 
respect,  supplemented  by  the  physical  training  described 
elsewhere.  In  brief,  let  us  try  to  be  sincere,,  straight- 
forw^ard,  self -controlled  gentlemen  on  the  platform,  and 
let  personality  take  care  of  itself. 

We  may  add  a  word  from  Emerson^  which  touches  an 
important  matter  to  some  extent  within  our  control: 
"Perhaps  it  is  the  lowest  of  the  qualities  of  an  orator, 
but  it  is,  on  so  many  occasions,  of  chief  importance, — 
a  certain  robust  and  radiant  physical  health." 

We  should  not  be  discouraged  by  the  discovery  that  we  are  not  "great 
personalities."  Of  course  some  of  us  will  never  sway  audiences  at  will, 
but  we  can  make  the  most  of  such  gifts  as  we  have.  "The  race  is  not 
always  to  the  swift,  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong."  I,  in  common  with 
every  teacher,  have  seen  sadly  handicapped  young  men  surpass  their 
more  gifted  classmates. 

Fairness.  Nothing  more  certainly  induces  a  fair,  open- 
minded  attitude  on  the  part  of  an  audience  than  fair- 
ness on  the  part  of  the  speaker.  We  have  already 
seen  the  good  effect  of  concessions  in  finding  common 
ground.  Fairness  should  be  shown  both  in  the  presenta- 
tion of  one's  own  views  and  in  discussing  the  views  of  an 
opponent.  The  persuader  is  an  advocate.  He  is  expected 
to  state  his  side  as  strongly  as  truth  permits;  but  his 
audience  has  a  right  to  expect  him  to  state  facts  truly 

^Essay  on  Eloquence. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  367 

and  to  refrain  from  sophistry.  To  be  an  advocate  does 
not  give  one  a   right  to  be  other  than  fair   and   honest. 

To  be  fair  is  not  only  right,  but  profitable  in  the  long 
run.  Juries  trusted  "Honest  Abe"  Lincoln.  Contrast 
the  effect  of  that  name  with  that  of  a  name  for  shrewdness 
and  pettifogging.  To  have  one's  tricks  exposed  is  to  be- 
come discredited. 

In  order  to  be  fair,  first  be  reasonable.  Look  at  the  case 
of  the  opposition,  instead  of  shutting  your  mind  to  it. 
Do  not,  like  a  schoolboy  debater,  claim  everything  for 
your  side;  but  recognize,  at  least  tacitly,  that  there  is 
truth  on  the  other  side.  Remember  that  we  are  consider- 
ing the  winning  of  those  not  yet  in  agreement.  Nothing 
marks  more  plainly  the  difference  between  the  mature 
and  the  immature  debater  than  the  intolerance  of  the 
latter. 

Courtesy.  Any  exhibition  of  boorishness  upon  the 
platform  will  tend  to  decrease  the  sympathy  of  an  audience 
for  the  speaker;  while  the  speaker  who  is  courteous  may 
say  hard,  stern  things  with  impunity.  Cutting,  sarcastic 
remarks  may  sometimes  be  justified,  but  they  are  rarely 
persuasive.  They  chill  good  feeling.  Bad  temper  should 
not  be  mistaken  for  righteous  indignation.  Invective 
is  for  the  rarest  occasions.  It  would  be  a  good  rule  never 
to  say  on  the  platform  anything  derogatory  of  an  oppon- 
ent which  you  would  not  say  if  you  were  alone  with  him; 
but  one  should  refrain  from  the  personalities  which  might 
be  proper  enough  in  private.  Schoolboys  in  debate 
often  offend  good  taste  seriously  by  aiming  at  each  other 
remarks  which  pass  as  humor  in  everyday  intercourse, 
but  which  on  the  platform  seem  mere  insolence.  Do  not 
mistake  a  laugh  cheaply  won  by  blackguardism  for  genuine 
approval. 

Your  audience  especially  deserves  courtesy.  It  has 
paid  you  a  compliment  in  giving  you  its  time.     The  point 


368  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

needing  most  emphasis  under  this  head  is,  that  you  should 
not  trespass  upon  the  time  of  your  hearers  beyond  the 
period  allotted  to  you,  either  by  those  in  charge  of  the 
meeting,  or  by  common   understanding. 

Courtesy  does  not  demand  cheap,  insincere  compli- 
ments to  audience  or  community.  A  gracious  compli- 
ment which  is  sincere  and  merited  is  welcome  anywhere; 
but  no  intelligent  audience  is  likely  to  be  won  by  the 
strained  flattery  \\'ith  which  some  speakers  seek  good  will. 
We  may  applaud  perfunctorily,  as  in  duty  bound;  but 
applause  accompanied  by  knowing  looks  and  the  nudging 
of  neighbors  is  not  evidence  of  persuasive  effect. 

Respect  for  Audiences.  Courtesy  should  not  be  merely 
assumed,  but  should  rest  upon  fairness  of  spirit  and  also 
genuine  respect  for  one's  audience.  Some  over-confident 
young  men  need  to  consider  this  with  care.  The  humblest 
audience  deserves  respect.  However  humble  their  indi- 
vidual members,  in  the  aggregate  they  constitute  a  body 
to  whom  respect  is  due.  Do  not  waste  their  time;  give 
them  a  fair  equivalent.  The  best  way  to  show  courtesy 
and  respect  to  an  audience  is  to  prepare  well  and  give 
them  your  best.  Your  audience  may  be  slow;  it  is  likely 
to  be  if  not  made  up  of  trained  thinkers.  Any  audience 
may  be  slower  than  a  beginner  thinks  it  should  be,  for 
it  has  not  thought  through  his  subject  in  most  cases; 
but  he  should  not  mistake  sIo^nticss  for  stupidity,  or  small 
schooling  for  ignorance. 

It  would  be  affectation  to  ignore  the  fact  that  some 
audiences  do  not  represent  a  high  level  of  cidture  and 
information;  yet  rarely  indeed  will  an  audience  be  found 
which  does  not  contain  a  goodly  number  of  members 
who  have  solid  "^-isdom  and  keen  ability  to  see  through 
fallacies,  though  they  may  not  be  able  to  express  them- 
selves. It  is  never  safe  to  assume  that  all  the  members 
of  an  audience  are  uninformed  on  any  subject. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF 

Being  asked  to  speak  in  a  small  country  church  on  my  observations 
of  New  York's  East  Side  during  a  residence  of  ten  weeks  in  a  college 
settlement,  I  comforted  myself  with  the  thought  that  I  at  least  knew 
more  of  tenement  life  than  any  of  my  hearers.  After  my  talk  I  learned 
that  two  persons  in  the  audience  had  actually  lived  in  the  tenements, 
and  that  one  lady  had  worked  with  immigrants  both  at  Ellis  Island  and 
in  a  settlement.  She  said  I  was  quite  Avell  informed  considering  my 
limited  opportunity  for  observation! 

It  is  difficult  to  tell  the  truth  about  audiences  in  cold  print,  without 
giving  the  essentially  false  impression  that  they  may  be  freely  manip- 
ulated without  respect  to  their  mental  powers.  It  is  true  that  men  in 
general  are  not  thinkers,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term,  that  they  may 
be  controlled  at  times  by  suggestion  and  through  their  emotions,  and 
that  they  have  strong  prejudices.  It  is  true  that  at  times  they  are 
controlled  by  demagogues,  that  they  are  subject  to  panics,  and  form 
mobs.  Still,  though  much  under  the  influence  of  emotion,  their  emo- 
tions are  often  true  guides;  and  though  sometimes  controlled  by  pre- 
judices and  inherited  opinions,  these  are  after  all  the  results  of  the  ex- 
perience of  the  race  and  not  altogether  bad  standards  of  conduct.  And 
it  is  wholesome  to  reflect  that  very  rarely  has  the  speaker  occasion  to 
feel  himself  superior  to  his  hearers.  Nothing  could  be  better  for  the 
young  speaker  to  fix  in  his  memory  than  the  saying  of  that  great  popular 
leader,  Lincoln,  spoken  out  of  rich  experience:  "I  always  assume  that 
my  audience  is  in  many  things  wiser  than  I  am,  and  I  say  the  most 
sensible  things  I  can  to  them.  I  never  found  that  they  did  not  under- 
stand me."  Edward  Everett  Hale  told  a  group  of  students  that  they 
should  remember  that  the  least  educated  man  in  an  audience  can  con- 
ceive of  a  better  speech  than  the  speaker  can  make. 

There  have  been  few  stronger  speakers  in  America  in  recent  years, 
either  in  the  Senate  or  on  the  stump,  than  Senator  Jonathan  P.  Dolliver. 
He  declared  "that  whoever  would  deal  with  the  modern  x\merican  mass- 
meeting  must  put  into  the  preparation  of  his  speech  time  and  labor 
without  stint  or  grudging."     He  said  further: 

"The  stump  has  been  the  last  field  of  oratory  to  submit  to  the  exactions 
of  toil  and  care  and  unremitting  attention  to  details.  This  has  been 
partly  the  fault  of  the  public,  which  has  allowed  itself  to  be  imposed 
upon  by  patiently  receiving  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  speeches.  The 
schoolhouse  and  the  newspapers  have  gone  far  to  restore  even  the  remote 
rural  districts  to  their  natural  rights  in  these  matters.  Charles  James 
Fox  once  said  that  however  humble  his  audience  he  always  felt  it  was 
his  duty  to  do  his  best.  That  course  was  a  good  thing  for  the  audience 
and  undoubtedly  a  good  thing  for  the  orator,  for  in  no  art  is  it  ever  safe 
for  a  man  to  fall  below  the  best  that  is  in  him. 


370  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

"The  time  has  come  in  the  United  States  when  no  community  is  so 
remote  that  it  does  not  demand  a  high  order  of  pubUc  speaking.  .  .  . 
The  stump  speaker  of  to-day  has  a  good  many  competitors,  and  it 
behooves  him  to  bring  his  audience  fresh  knowledge,  or  at  least  the  old, 
familiar  knowledge  dressed  up  so  that  its  friends  will  be  glad  to  renew 
its  acquaintance.     .     .     . 

"The  democracy  of  England  and  America  is  no  fierce  mob  bewildered 
by  the  babble  of  tongues  or  the  scribble  of  pens." 

Do  not,  above  all  things,  try  to  patronize  or  "talk 
down"  to  any  audience.  Beware  of  the  wheedling  cir- 
cumflexed  tones  which  imply,  "Now,  my  dear  good  people, 
living  far  from  the  busy  haunts  of  men,  it  must  be  a  real 
treat  to  have  me  come  and  enlighten  your  ignorance." 
You  did  not,  years  ago,  enjoy  speeches  such  as  Mark 
Twain  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  Sunday  School  superin- 
tendent in   Tom  Sawyer: 

"Now  children,  I  want  you  all  to  sit  just  as  straight  and  pretty  as 
you  can  and  give  me  all  your  attention  for  a  minute  or  two.  There — 
that  is  it.  That  is  the  way  good  little  boys  and  girls  should  do.  .  . 
I  want  to  tell  you  how  good  it  makes  me  feel  to  see  so  many  bright 
clean  little  faces  assembled  in  a  place  like  this,  learning  to  do  right  and 
be  good.     .     .     ." 

You  must  use  words  not  imfamiliar,  but  this  does  not 
require  bad  or  childish  English.  The  Bible  is  a  model 
of  pure  English,  but  its  language  is  plain  to  the  simplest 
man.     Professor  Phelps  has  well  said:^ 

"The  common  people  like  to  be  addressed  in  sound 
old  English  which  has  the  centuries  behind  it.  They 
desire  it  to  be  plain,  direct,  strong,  racy,  but  they  never 
as  a  body  desire  it  to  be  low.  ...  A  rabble  in  the 
street  will  often  hoot  if  they  are  addressed  in  bad  grammar. 
Patrick  Henry  sought  to  win  the  favor  of  the  backwoods- 
men of  Virginia  by  imitating  their  colloquial  dialect, 
of  which  his  biographer  gives  the  follomng  specimen 
from  one  of  his  speeches,  'All  the  larnin  upon  the  yairth 
are  not  to  be  compared  with  naiteral  pairts.'  But  his 
hearers,  backwoodsmen  though  they  were,  knew  better 
than  that;    and  they  knew  that  a  statesman  of  the  Old 

^Phelps  and  Fink,  Rhetoric,  p.  17. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  371 

Dominion  ought  to  speak  good  English.  They  were  his 
severest  critics.  The  common  people  know  good  English 
when  they  hear  it;  they  understand  it;  men  crave  it 
who  never  use  it.  In  their  unconscious  criticism  of  a 
speaker,  his  right  to  their  hearing  depends  on  his  ability 
to  say  something  worth  their  hearing;  and  one  of  the 
first  e\ddences  they  look  for  of  that  ability  is  that  he  speaks 
better  EngHsh  than  they  do." 

And,  mind  you,  respect  for  audiences  must  be  felt.  Do 
not  doubt  that  we  reveal  in  our  speeches  many  things 
we  would  not,  and  perhaps  are  unconscious  of, — pee\dsh- 
ness,  egotism,  weakness,  contempt.  The  snob  will  show 
himself  in  his  speech  as  well  as  the  hypocrite. 

Modesty.  We  like  a  speaker  who  knows  his  own 
mind  and  speaks  with  the  note  of  strong  conviction,  but 
we  resent  any  touch  of  strut  or  bullying.  "Franklin,  in 
criticising  one  of  the  appeals  of  the  x^merican  colonies 
to  the  king  for  a  redress  of  grievances,  advised  a  more 
manly  style.  Said  he,  'Firmness  carries  weight:  a  strut 
never  does.'  When  we  detect  the  *strut'  in  discourse, 
we  are  instinctively  aroused  to  cavil  and  criticise."^ 
There  are  men  who  make  excellent  arguments,  yet  feeling, 
perhaps  justly,  their  superiority  as  thinkers,  they  let  a 
note  creep  into  their  voices  which  says,  "Now  isn't 
that  clever?"  and,  "Haven't  I  sho-vvTi  you  how  foolish  you 
are?"  and  this  awakens  a  rebellion  in  their  hearers.  It  is 
hard  for  such  men  to  be  "persuasive  speakers  whom  one 
does  not  resent." 

Do  not  make  a  parade  of  knowledge.  Usually  an 
audience  is  glad  to  be  informed,  and  is  •walling  to  acknowl- 
edge any  advantages  their  speaker  may  possess  over 
them;  but  they  are  quick  to  resent  any  suggestion  of 
shoTN-ing  off.  "He  thinks  he  knows  it  all,"  is  often  heard. 
The  young  college  man,  hovv^ever  modest,  is  likely  to 
be  under  suspicion  in  this  respect. 

iPhelps  and  Frink,  Rhetoric,  p.  195. 


372  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Modesty  docs  not  require  apologies  for  one's  unworthi- 
ness  to  speak  to  one's  audience,  or  upon  the  subject 
chosen.  There  are  times  when  apologies  are  due,  perhaps, 
but  occasion  for  them  should  be  avoided  when  possible. 
Apologies  for  lack  of  preparation  are  especially  objection- 
able. If  an  audience  forces  one  to  speak  without  oppor- 
tunity for  preparation,  no  apologies  are  due,  though 
one  might  wish  to  make  an  explanation  in  self-defense. 
Apologies  under  other  circumstances  are  often  equivalent 
to  telling  the  audience  that  they  have  not  been  considered 
worth  effort.  Worst  of  all,  apology  for  lack  of  prepara- 
tion is  often  only  a  way  of  bragging :  the  speaker  seems  to 
say,  "See  what  I  can  do  without  half  trying;  just  imagine 
w^hat  I  might  do  if  I  should  really  try!"  Much  of  this 
apologizing  comes  from  the  foolish  desire  to  give  the 
impression  that  one  is  speaking  impromptu. 

Never  make  an  apology  that  is  not  sincere.  A  young 
man  called  upon  to  address  the  veterans  of  the  Civil  War, 
might  sincerely  wish  to  compare  his  inexperience  with 
their  experience.  It  would  not  be  an  apology,  but  a  way 
of  paying  a  compliment  to  his  hearers.  When  Robert 
Ingersoll  began  a  lecture  on  Shakespeare  b^^  saying  he  felt 
like  a  man  trying  to  bear  up  an  enormous  globe  which 
quite  exceeded  his  gi'asp,  it  was  only  a  way  of  expressing 
his  sense  of  the  greatness  of  Shakespeare.  In  general, 
one  should  not  attempt  a  theme  he  is  not  qualified  to 
speak  upon  before  the  given  audience.  In  any  case, 
having  accepted  the  invitation,  he  should  give  such  time 
to  preparation  as  he  can,  and  then  no  apolog;\^  is  needed. 

There  is  a  conflict  of  opinion  between  those  who  believe  that  a  speaker 
should  speak  with  the  utmost  self-confidence  and  those  who  hold  for  a 
more  modest  attitude.     Senator  Beveridge  says  very  positively: 

"Not  one  immortal  utterance  can  be  produced  which  contains  such 
expressions  as,  'I  may  be  wrong,'  or,  'In  my  humble  judgment,'  or,  'In 
my  judgment.'  The  great  speakers,  in  their  highest  moments,  have 
always  been  so  charged  with  aggressive  convictions  that  they  announce 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  373 

their  conclusions  as  ultimate  truths.  They  speak  'as  one  having  author- 
ity," and  therefore,  'the  common  people  hear  them  gladly'." 

However  true  this  may  be  of  "great  speakers,  in  their  highest  mo- 
ments," one  is  not  always  delivering  "immortal  utterances."  Certainly 
Lincoln  was  a  great  leader,  yet  he  often  spoke  with  humility,  calling 
himself  "a  humble  man,"  and  taking  the  utmost  pains  to  explain  his 
conclusions.  He  was  always  respectful  of  the  opinions  of  others;  and 
even  when  President,  and  when  delivering  his  addresses  which  Senator 
Beveridge  says  will  live,  he  never  spoke  in  an  aggressive  ex-cathedra 
manner.  Read  the  Gettysburg  Address  and  the  two  inaugural  ad- 
dresses. He  speaks  with  unassuming  dignity,  as  the  President,  but  as 
one  who  rather  minimizes  than  magnifies  his  authority.  There  is  not 
the  voice  of  command,  but  that  of  a  father  to  his  elder  children. 

I  will  quote  again  from  wise  old  Benjamin  Franklin,  who  knew  how 
to  manage  men.  He  tells  us  in  his  Autobiography,  that  he  as  a  youth 
practiced  the  Socratic  method  of  argument,  much  to  the  discomfiture 
of  others. 

"I  practiced  this  method  for  some  years,  but  gradually  left  it,  retaining 
only  the  habit  of  expressing  myself  in  terms  of  modest  diffidence,  never 
using  when  I  advance  anything  that  may  possibly  be  disputed,  the  words 
certainly,  undoubtedly  .  .  .  ;  but  rather  say,  7  conceive,  or  apprehend, 
a  thing  to  be  so  and  so;  It  appears  to  me,  or  I  shoidd  not  think  it  so  and 
so,  for  such  and  such  reasons;  or  /  imagine  it  to  be  so;  or  It  is  so,  if  I  am 
not  mistaken.  This  habit,  I  believe,  has  been  of  great  advantage  to  me 
when  I  have  had  occasion  to  inculcate  my  opinions  and  persuade  men 
into  measures  that  I  have  been  from  time  to  time  engaged  in  promoting. 
.  .  .  .  I  w  ish  well-meaning  and  sensible  men  would  not  lessen  their 
power  of  doing  good  by  a  positive  assuming  manner,  that  seldom  fails 
to  disgust,  tends  to  create  opposition,  and  to  defeat  most  of  those  pur- 
poses for  which  speech  was  given  us." 

Following  Franklin's  advice,  we  should  not  attempt  to  lay  down  any 
positive  rule  on  this  matter.  Much  depends  upon  the  situation.  In 
leading  a  great  mass  of  men,  who  are  more  or  less  suggestible  and  largely 
in  harmony  with  the  speaker,  the  positive  assertion  may  be  best;  but 
in  winning  over  thinking  men  Franklin's  way  is  usually  better.  Much 
depends  also  upon  the  speaker.  Most  of  us  had  best  leave  the  hurling 
of  thunderbolts  to  the  Luthers  and  Mirabeaus. 

Self-Respect.  If  the  circumflexed  tones  of  condescen- 
sion are  objectionable,  even  less  persuasive  are  the  cir- 
cumflexes of  the  apologetic  tone  of  one  who  holds  himself 
too  cheaply.  No  audience  will  give  respectful  attention 
to  one  who  does  not  respect  himself.     It  will  scorn  the 


374  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

man  who  lacks  the  courage  of  his  own  convictions,  and 
who  seems  to  be  begging  his  audience  to  tolerate  him  and 
his  ideas.  One  may  be  sure  that  such  an  attitude  did 
not  go  wdth  Franldin's  modest  phrases.  No  suggestion 
regarding  modesty,  courtsey  or  tact,  should  be  taken  to 
mean  that  a  speaker  should  fa^vMi  upon  his  audience. 
An  audience  respects  manliness  above  all  things,  and  has 
far  more  regard  for  a  good  fighter  than  for  a  devotee  of 
"soft  soap."  Beecher,  in  his  lecture  on  Orator^^  speaks 
of  throwing  a  sop  to  the  Cerberus  of  en-sy,  prejudice  and 
jealousy  which  guards  the  gate  to  men's  minds;  but  no 
one  who  knows  his  career,  and  especially  knows  his  speech 
in  Liverpool  in  1863,  which  has  become  the  standard 
example  of  a  manful,  j^et  tactful  fight  w4th  a  hostile  audi- 
ence, vriW  think  that  he  meant  any  unmanly  fawning. 

SeK-respect  demands,  too,  that  although  the  speaker 
must  reveal  himself  frankly,  he  must  not  become  unduly 
familiar  or  sacrifice  his  personal  dignity.  I  recall  hearing 
a  candidate  who  was  running  for  the  office  of  Secretary 
of  State  in  California,  making  a  stump  speech  in  his  col- 
lege town.  Unfortunately  his  reputation  lingered  and 
the  audience  began  calHng  for  one  of  his  old  "stunts." 
He  was  reluctant,  but  finally  gave  us  a  song  and  dance. 
The  crowd  enjoyed  the  act,  but  I  doubt  if  a  single  ap- 
plauder  felt  that  this  was  a  man  to  be  elected  to  a  high 
office. 

I  am  glad  to  believe  that  there  is  no  reason  why  one,  from  the  low 
standpoint  of  expediency,  should  sacrifice  his  self-respect  and  dignity 
before  the  American  electorate.  A  certain  wealthy  and  dandified  young 
man  in  a  New  York  state  district  became  a  candidate  for  Congress.  He 
put  aside  his  fine  raiment  and  went  among  the  farmers  in  a  scare-crow 
costume.  Outraged  by  his  affront  to  their  inteUigence,  they  "snowed 
him  under"  at  the  polls. 

Good  Humor.  Better  than  humor  is  good  humor, 
which  enables  us  to  meet  all  sorts  of  situations,  however 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  375 

strained  or  awkward,  with  a  smile.  Good  humor  is  a  foil 
for  the  most  dangerous  attacks  of  an  opponent,  and  is  the 
surest  means  of  winning  over  a  hostile  audience.  Good 
humor,  too,  is  consistent  with  dignity  and  seriousness  of 
purpose.  Besides,  though  many  of  us  can  never  succeed 
as  wits,  we  can  all  cultivate  good  humor.  x\nd  it  needs 
cultivation,  for  geniality  is  rather  generally  lacking  in 
young  speakers. 

How  much  more  effective  than  a  tart  tu  quoque,  or  you  re  another,  was 
Lowell's  whimsical  way  of  reminding  the  British  that  they  had  the 
quality  they  criticised  in  us. 

The  worst  thing  a  speaker  can  do  ordinarily  is  to  show 
anger.  It  is  a  favorite  trick  of  debaters  and  advocates 
to  drive  an  opponent  into  a  display  of  wrath.  This  not 
only  destroys  his  authority  with  the  audience,  but  is 
likely  to  cause  him  to  make  damaging,  absurd,  or  conflict- 
ing statements.  There  is  great  force  in  righteous  indigna- 
tion when  a  strong  man,  for  a  proper  cause,  boils  over 
with  wrath;  but  do  not  have  a  low  boiling  point. 

Interruptions  from  the  floor  try  the  temper  of  the  stump 
speaker;  but  if  he  keeps  good  natured  he  can  usually 
be  sure  of  having  the  sympathy  of  the  audience,  who  will 
not  demand  a  very  high  grade  of  answer;  but  if  he  loses 
his  temper  he  will  usually  find  himself  in  their  bad  graces. 

Lincoln  in  the  debates  with  Douglas  came,  as  was  natural  under  the 
long  strain,  to  some  pretty  sharp  encounters  with  his  able  and  audacious 
antagonist;  but  never  was  his  good  nature  destroyed,  though  he  was 
sorely  tried  and  we  find  him  saying  in  the  Ottawa  debate,  "It  is  fortu- 
nate for  me  that  I  can  keep  as  good-humored  as  I  do,  when  the  judge 
acknowledges  he  has  been  trying  to  make  a  question  of  veracity  with  me." 
When  he  finds  it  necessary  to  rebuke  Douglas  for  misrepresenting  his 
views  of  the  proper  position  of  the  negro,  he  does  so  in  a  way  which  is 
good-humored,  but  at  the  same  time  makes  the  Judge  understand  that 
Lincoln  is  not  all  meekness:  "Anything  that  argues  me  into  his  idea 
of  perfect  social  and  political  equality  with  the  negro  is  but  a  specious 
and  fantastic  arrangement  of  words,  by  which  a  man  can  prove  a  horse- 
chestnut  to  be  a  chestnut  horse."      When  he  is  interrupted  by  a  rowdy 


376  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

with  "Put  on  your  specs,"  in  allusion  to  his  difficulty  in  reading,  he 
replies  simply,  "Yes,  sir,  I  am  obliged  to  do  so;  I  am  no  longer  a  young 
man." 

Evidently  good  humor  is  helpful  in  maintaining  fairness, 
courtesy,  and  self-control. 

Self-Control.  It  is  a  truism  that  "To  be  master  of  a 
situation  a  man  must  first  be  master  of  himself."  We 
instinctively  turn  for  guidance  to  men  of  poise,  tsho  are 
not  only  unruffled  under  provocation,  but  also  calm  in  a 
crisis;  not,  however,  to  the  man  who  is  cool  from  indif- 
ference, but  to  the  man  who  under  strong  feeling 
yet  remains  master  of  his  powers.  Such  a  man  on  the 
platform  \^'ill  be  able  to  speak  with  an  authority  never 
granted  to  one  whose  control  is  easily  destroyed.  He 
\\'ill  also  be  able  to  think  of  the  right  thing  to  say  when 
it  should  be  said,  not  next  day;  and  to  judge  the  mood 
of  his  audience,  whether  assenting  or  resisting,  and  in 
every  Vv^ay  to  adapt  himself  to  the  situation. 

Sympathy.  Whatever  a  speaker's  purpose  he  needs  sym- 
pathy, in  order  that  he  may  understand  what  his  hearers 
are  interested  in,  what  motives  move  them,  what  beliefs 
and  prejudices  they  have.  Not  only  must  the  speaker 
understand  human  nature,  he  should  have  a  fellow  feeling 
for  those  whom  he  addresses.  And  not  only  should  he 
have  this  feeling,  but  he  should  be  able  to  manifest  it,  to 
seem  a  friendly  man,  interested  in  those  he  addresses. 

To  be  sympathetic,  to  put  one's  self  in  the  other  fellow's 
place,  one  needs  imagination.  One  camiot  possibly 
have  shared  directly  the  experiences  of  all  one's  auditors; 
but  we  recall  that  imagination  must  have  material  with 
which  to  work,  and  no  material  can  be  so  good  as  that 
gained  from  first-hand  experience,  and  from  knowing 
many  kinds  of  men. 

Tact.  The  speaker  who  is  fair,  reasonable,  courteous 
and  modest,  who  has  a  sense  of  humor  and  maintains 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  377 

good  humor,  and  who,  above  all,  is  sympathetic,  will  prob- 
ably have  tact, — "the  ability  to  do  or  say  the  right  thing 
at  the  right  moment,  or  better,  to  avoid  doing  or  saying 
the  wrong  thing."  Tact  seems  to  be  a  gift  granted  to  some 
and  denied  to  others,  but  the  worst  blunderer  should  be 
able  to  improve.  The  way  to  go  about  it  is  to  study 
other  people  and  cultivate  consideration  for  their  feelings. 
One  cannot  be  tactful  by  rule,  and  a  manifest  effort  to 
be  tactful  is  not  tactful.  There  must  be  a  sympathetic 
understanding.  iNIuch  of  the  preceding  discussion  of 
persuasion  might  be  placed  under  the  heading  of  tact, 
but  a  few  special  suggestions  may  be  helpful. 

Sympathetic  understanding  is  more  than  just  being 
kindly  disposed  toward  others.  We  all  know  people  as 
inept  as  the  Newfoundland  puppy  who  shows  his  affection 
by  planting  his  muddy  paws  on  his  master's  dress  suit. 
Tact  involves  both  good  feeling  and  understanding. 

We  all  know  people  who  call  general  attention  to  one's  defects  and 
failures,  who  heap  moral  precepts  upon  us  when  we  are  merry  or  angry; 
who  try  to  soothe  us  as  angry  children  when  we  think  we  are  filled  with 
righteous  indignation;  who  insist  on  rehearsing  their  successes  when  we 
are  sore  over  defeats;  who  put  us  in  the  ^VTong  without  leaving  an  open- 
ing for  our  wounded  pride  to  escape;  who  come  fairly  oozing  pity  for  our 
ignorance  and  desire  to  set  us  right,  and  proceed  to  tell  us  what  we  should 
be  fools  not  to  know.  Then  there  is  the  student  who  comes  in  to  say, 
"Professor,  I  have  got  to  be  excused  to-day,"  or  "I  must  pass  this  course;" 
or  to  say  that  the  work  for  which  he  was  conditioned  was  unessential; 
or  that  he  is  being  "held  up  on  a  technicality";  or  perhaps,  very  kindly, 
"I  find  this  paragraph  of  yours  rather  muddy."  Now,  one  who  does  not 
realize  that  these  things  are  tactless  and  that  such  remarks  make  it  hard 
for  one  with  the  best  of  intentions  to  keep  exclusive  attention  upon  the 
matter  in  hand,  who  cannot  feel,  for  instance,  the  difference  between 
the  last  remark  quoted  and,  "I  do  not  understand  this  paragraph," 
should  surely  give  much  attention  to  his  tactfulness. 

Be  careful  of  convicting  your  audience  of  ignorance. 
A  studehTspeak:er l>egaii :  'T  believe  many  are  ignorant 
of   what  forestry  really  is,  and  I  wish  to  tell  you."     The 


378  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

statement  was  correct  but  unnecessary,  prompting  the 
reaction :  "Well,  let's  see  if  you  know  so  much."  iVnother 
student  speaking  of  the  campus  provoked  the  question, 
"Don't  you  think  we  have  seen  the  campus?"  He  was 
right  in  assuming  that  we  had  not  really  seen  the  campus, 
with  eyes  open  to  its  beauties;  but  a  tactful  speaker 
would  have  reminded  us  of  things  half  seen,  rather  than 
told  of  them  as  new.  In  the  passage  from  Phillips  on 
Toussaint  L'Ouverture,  you  may  note  the  phrase,  "You 
remember  that  Macaulay  says."  A  young  man  talking 
to  Civil  War  veterans,  would  do  well  in  presenting  facts 
outside  their  range  of  information,  to  ascribe  them  to  his 
authority,  preferably  one  of  their  generation;  or  he  may 
tell  of  newly  discovered  evidence. 

I  do  not  mean  that  a  speaker  need  hesitate  to  give 
information  needed,  and  to  do  so  in  the  most  direct  way, 
in  most  cases;  but  he  should  avoid  humiliating  his  hearers. 
Student  speakers  should  give  this  matter  some  attention, 
for  they  do  not  always  distinguish  between  preparing 
a  speech  and  preparing  a  report  in  economics,  in  which 
they  naturally  wash  to  appear  as  wise  as  possible. 

Do  not  put  your  audience  hopelessly  in  the  wrong. 
You  know  the  man  who  in  an  argument  is  crammed  full 
of  facts  and  authorities,  has  an  appalling  memory,  de- 
molishes your  every  point  with  relentless  logic,  leaving 
you  not  a  leg  to  stand  on  and  triumphantly  forcing  you 
to  yield, — but  no,  you  refuse  to  surrender.  Y^ou  take 
refuge  in  some  side  issue,  you  refuse  to  accept  his 
authorities  or  believe  his  statements;  you  turn  to  such 
personalities  as,  "Well,  if  you  know  so  much,"  or,  "Of 
course  we  are  all  fools  and  knaves;"  you  do  many  things 
you  are  ashamed  of  rather  than  acknowledge  his  triumph. 
If  he  would  generously  acknowledge  your  correctness 
so  far  as  you  are  correct,  and  acknowledge  the  justice  of 
your  view-points  and  feelings,  you  would  promptly  yield. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  379 

The  speaker's  business  will  sometimes  be  to  prove 
that  the  majority  of  his  audience  are  in  the  wrong,  but 
he  need  not  insist  that  they  are  altogether  wrong.  They 
will  not  be  on  any  debatable  question,  and  many  of  their 
errors  are  of  no  account  anyway.  Sometimes  one  may 
ignore  their  errors  and  tacitly  assume  that  they  hold 
correct  views.  In  any  case,  one  should  not  make  his 
attack  more  personal  than  is  necessary,  aind  foreclose 
the  whole  case  by  treating  all  who  differ  as  fools,  bigots, 
or  knaves.  'T  am  sorry  for  such  a  narrow-minded 
person,"  said  a  young  speaker,  referring  to  any  one  who 
held  the  opposite  view.  I  recall  a  speech  upon  the 
"popular  review  of  judicial  decisions,"  which  implied 
that  all  who  favored  the  plan  were  rascals  intent  upon 
WTecking  the  courts  and  our  whole  governmental  system. 
After  I  had  convinced  this  speaker  that  the  advocates  of 
the  plan  were  patriotic  men,  he  came  back  with  a  speech 
which  acknowledged  that  they  might  mean  well,  but 
implied  that  they  were  very  silly.  As  between  being  called 
a  fool  or  a  knave  most  of  us  would  prefer  the  latter 
epithet.  But  epithets  are  not  necessary;  certainly  not 
for  one's  audience. 

Consider  the  case  of  a  young  man,  just  out  of  college,  addressing 
elderly  people  and  expressing  contempt  for  their  ideas  and  customs; 
referring  to  the  religious  ideas  to  which  they  were  trained  as  old  foggyism, 
and  exhibiting  pride  in  his  own  advanced  ideas.  "All  that  is  over- 
thrown," he  says;  "Professor  Conclusions  has  proved,  etc.  Nobody 
believes  that  way  now."  None  but  a  boor  would  talk  that  way,  do  you 
say.''  I  have  heard  young  men,  ordinarily  courteous,  talking  that 
way.  No  one  is  so  illiberal  toward  the  views  of  others  as  your  young 
liberal. 

Must  one  pass  over  the  errors  of  his  hearers?  Not  at 
all.  Prove  them  wrong.  Bring  the  facts  and  the  argu- 
ments and  prove  their  beliefs  wrong.  But  don't  triumph 
over  them  too  much;  let  them  acknowledge  they  are 
wrong.     Don't  "rub  it  in." 


380  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

There  is  generous  admission  implied  in  this  statement  of  a  missionary 
to  a  Confucian,  which  makes  the  advice  more  palatable:  "You  need  the 
power  of  Christ  to  enable  you  to  obey  Confucius." 

A  hint  may  be  taken  from  an  article  entitled.  Cleaning  up  the  American 
City:  How  Mrs.  Caroline  Bartlett  does  it.^  Mrs.  Bartlett  went  to 
Montgomery  to  make  a  "survey."  She  did  her  work,  and  then  called 
a  meeting,  to  which  came  city  officials,  dairymen,  bakers  and  others 
quick  to  resent  criticisms,  especially  from  an  outsider.  "Tactfully 
she  put  her  compliments  first, — the  gratified  citizens  learned  that  their 
water  supply  was  excellent,  their  sewer  system  and  street  cleaning  work 
good,  the  refuse  collection  exceptional.  They  beamed  as  they  were 
congratulated  upon  the  remarkably  good  work  done  by  their  health 
officials.  .  .  Then  they  listened  courageously  while  the  speaker 
revealed  the  conditions  in  the  bakeries,  some  of  the  schoolhouses,  and 
the  city  jail.  There  was  great  excitement  after  Mrs.  Bartlett  left, 
but  the  officials  and  the  women's  clubs  went  to  work  in  accordance  with 
her  advice." 

Do  not  unnecessarily  stir  up  prejudices.  A  speaker 
must  often  boldly  face  prejudices;  but  there  is  no  good 
reason  for  stirring  these  up  unnecessarily,  and  especially 
those  not  involved  in  the  issue. 

On  the  Saturday  preceding  the  election  of  1884,  Dr.  Burchard  made  a 
speech  for  Blaine  in  New  York  City,  in  which  he  declared,  "Democracy 
stands  for  Rum,  Romanism  and  Rebellion."  Within  an  hour  it  was 
spread  over  the  city,  by  means  of  chalk,  placard  and  newspaper,  that  a 
Republican  speaker  had  attacked  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  Blaine, 
whose  own  wife  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  dared  make  no  statement, 
fearing  Protestant  prejudice.  Cleveland  carried  New  York  State 
and  with  it  the  presidency,  by  only  eleven  hundred  votes,  and  many 
think  Blaine's  defeat  was  due  to  this  unguarded  sentence  of  his  advocate. 

No  better  speech  for  the  study  of  tact  will  be  found  than  Booker  T. 
Washington's  address  at  the  Atlanta  Exposition.  This  will  be  found, 
with  the  enthusiastic  comments  of  Southern  white  men,  in  Washington's 
Up  from  Slavery,  which  contains  also  many  wise  observations  on  speech- 
making,  and  especially  on  tactful  adaptation  to  the  audience.  The 
speech,  with  an  account  of  the  occasion  and  its  success,  will  also  be  found 
in  Baker's  Forms  of  Public  Address.  See  also  in  the  same  text,  Phillips 
Brook's  speech  on  the  Fourth  of  July  delivered  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

Roosevelt's  African  and  European  Addresses  furnishes  a  basis  for  an 

^American  Magazine,  September,  1913. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  381 

interesting  study  of  tact,  especially  the  speech  before  the  National 
University  at  Cairo  and  the  address  at  the  Guildhall  in  London,  in  both 
of  which  he  attempts,  with  apparent  success,  to  advise  other  peoples 
how  to  manage  their  affairs. 

Do  not  put  every  suggestion  on  the  plane  of  duty. 
There  is  surely  occasion  for  preaching,  for  exhortation  to 
duty;  yet  we  do  well  to  limit  this  so  far  as  we  can  without 
sacrificing  definiteness  of  suggestion.  One  becomes  in- 
different to  duties  when  he  is  told  of  them  too  constantly; 
as  here  in  this  college  world,  that  it  is  one's  duty  to  sup- 
port every  conceivable  activity,  to  cultivate  the  acquaint- 
ance of  all  sorts  of  men,  to  saturate  one's  self  with  music, 
to  read  good  books  every  available  fifteen  minutes, 
to  attend  the  special  lectures,  to  live,  in  short,  an  im- 
possibly strenuous  life.  One  wonders  why  duty  is  the 
only  motive  appealed  to,  and  why  nothing  is  presented 
as  a  pleasure  or  an  advantage. 

A  speaker  wishing  to  secure  support  for  the  children's  gardens  move- 
ment, began  with  our  duty  to  the  poor.  Had  he  interested  us  in  the 
children  and  the  work  that  has  been  accomplished,  his  plea  would  have 
been  more  effective;  we  might  have  wished  to  help,  or  even  offered  to 
help.  A  speaker  earnestly  wishing  to  induce  a  group  of  students  to 
interest  themselves  in  the  lonesome,  detached  members  of  the  com- 
munity, began  with  a  vigorous  denunciation  of  the  general  indifference. 
He  improved  his  speech  much  by  first  setting  before  us  the  situation, 
winning  our  sympathy  by  specific  examples. 

We  recognize  that  much  depends  upon  the  relation  of 
a  speaker  to  his  audience.  In  the  case  just  mentioned,  a 
student  speaking  to  students  on  student  duty  would  be 
less  likely  to  provoke  a  resisting  spirit  than  would  a 
member  of  the  faculty.  Sometimes  a  position  of  author- 
ity enables  one  to  urge  duty  more  acceptably ;  sometimes 
less  acceptably.  We  are  more  willing  to  take  preaching 
from  a  preacher  than  from  one  without  special  license  to 
urge  duties  upon  us.  We  take  it  more  kindly  from  the 
old  than  from  the  young.     A  speaker  accepted  by  an 


382  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

audience  as  a  friend  or  a  trusted  counselor  can  venture 
to  give  advice  that  would  be  resented  coming  from 
another.  Yet  the  man  of  age  and  position  is  apt  to  speak 
with  deference.  A  well  developed  sense  "of  the  general 
fitness  of  things"  is  a  great  asset  to  the  speaker. 

It  is  folly  to  lay  down  rules.  At  times  the  most  direct  announcement 
possible  or  the  most  direct  exhortation  is  best.  We  do  not  like  manifest 
"beating  about  the  bush."  If  a  student  speaker  has  as  his  purpose 
to  raise  money  for  an  unfortunate  fellow  student,  which  will  be  more 
effective  with  you:  to  annoimce  his  purpose  at  once,  or  after  describing 
the  case.''  How  will  the  occasion  effect  the  problem.''  Suppose  the 
occasion  to  be  the  banquet  of  a  society  to  which  the  unfortunate  does 
not  belong.?  A  class  in  public  speaking?  A  meeting  of  the  class  or 
college  to  which  the  unfortimate  does  belong? 

Do  not  suppose  that  tact  is  necessary  only  when  dealing  with  the 
especially  bigoted.  A  college  faculty  is  made  of  up  men  with  more 
than  average  training  in  the  open-minded  consideration  of  problems. 
Of  a  certain  distinguished  professor's  speeches  in  faculty  meetings,  a 
colleague  says:  "We  admired  his  diction,  his  logic,  his  splendid  arrange- 
ment; and  we  had  to  admit  that  in  his  attacks  upon  certain  student 
activities  he  was  to  a  great  extent  right.  But  he  was  so  tactless  that  he 
never  won  a  vote.  He  spoke  as  in  a  vacuum.  I  have  heard  X  [naming 
a  scientist]  say,  'He  was  often  right,  but  I  never  voted  with  him." 

Tact  calls  for  nice  distinctions  in  the  use  of  allusions 
and  words.  We  have  already  noted  the  effect  of  unfortu- 
nate illustrations.  Tactlessness  is  often  due  to  the  blund- 
dering  of  one  of  limited  vocabulary,  or  of  one  who  does 
not  feel  the  difference  between  expressions;  as,  for  example, 
between  we  ought,  and  you  ovght,  we  are  wrong  and  you 
are  wrong,  I  have  proved  and  /  have  tried  to  prove  to  you. 
I  must  confess  that,  when  sitting  as  a  debate  judge,  the 
expression,  We  shall  prove  absolutely  and  We  have  proved 
to  you  beyond  a  doubt,  make  me  scrutinize  the  arguments 
^^'ith  se^'erity. 

Sincerity.  Nothing  is  so  fatal  to  persuasion  as  the 
suspicion  that  the  speaker  is  insincere;  while  sincerity 
on  the  part  of  the  speaker  prompts  an  open-minded,, 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  383 

sincere  attitude  on  the  part  of  his  audience.  "One  has 
only  to  examine  the  great  speeches  from  Demosthenes 
to  Webster  to  see  how  earnestly  the  orators  in  all  parts 
of  their  work  impressed  their  sincerity  on  their  audiences; 
one  has  but  to  consider  the  wrecked  careers  among  orators 
to  realize  that  sincerity  is  the  chief  essential  of  persuasion. 
Without  it  all  else,  in  the  long  run,  goes  for  naught."^ 
The  commonness  of  the  device,  detestable  when  dishonest, 
of  charging  hypocrisy  against  an  opponent,  especially  a 
political  opponent,  proves  the  importance  of  a  reputation 
for  sincerity.  If  it  be  suspected  that  a  speaker  is  for  sale, 
ready  to  use  his  persuasive  powers  for  any  cause  for  a 
consideration,  either  money  or  position;  or  that  he  is 
advocating  a  public  measure  for  the  sake  of  his  private 
interests,  or  that  he  is  driven  to  one  side  or  the  other 
by  pique,  as  when  a  man  changes  his  party  after  failure 
to  secure  a  nomination,  at  once  his  influence  wanes. 

The  best  way  to  be  believed  sincere  is  to  be  sincere. 
This  we  considered  in  the  chapter  on  emotion.  The  best 
way  to  resist  unfair  charges  of  insincerity  is,  by  a  course 
of  fair  dealing  with  one's  public,  to  build  up  such  a  repu- 
tation for  sincerity  as  will  of  itself  refute  the  charge. 
It  is  not  often  best  to  discuss  one's  own  sincerity  unless 
one  has  been  attacked  on  that  score;  as  had  Demos- 
thenes when  he  delivered  his  masterpiece,  On  the  Crown, 
and  Webster  in  the  Captain  Joseph  White  case.  One  may, 
if  he  feels  it  needed,  set  forth  facts  to  prove  his  sincerity 
in  any  case,  without  specifically  raising  the  issue. 

A  speaker  should  not  permit  himself  to  declare  as  his 
belief  what  he  does  not  believe.  Apart  from  the  question 
of  common  honesty,  he  cannot  afford  to  develop  the 
insincerity  which  is  bound  to  show  itself  in  the  tones  of 
his  voice  and  in  a  hundred  subtle  ways;   just  as  it  shows 

^Baker,  Principles  of  Argumentation,  p.  302. 


384  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

in  the  tones  and  niajiner  of  one  who  for  a  consider- 
able period  lias  sold  goods  he  does  not  believe  in.  I 
have  occasionally  found  among  young  men  a  belief  that  a 
speaker  has  some  peculiar  license  to  misstate  facts  and  to 
advocate  views  he  does  not  hold.  This  is  a  most  danger- 
ous doctrine,  subversive  of  all  integrity  in  public  speech. 
Nor  is  this  the  \dew  of  his  audience.  They  will  agree 
with  the  fiery  words  of  Demosthenes  to  .^schines :  "What 
greater  crime  can  an  orator  be  charged  with  than  that  his 
opinions  and  his  language  are  not  the  same?  Such  is 
found  to  be  your  character.  And  yet  you  open  your 
mouth  and  dare  to  look  these  men  in  the  face." 

A  "stump"  speaker  has  no  more  license  than  others. 
Certainly  he  lowers  his  moral  dignity  if  he  permits  himself 
to  be  used  as  a  mere  mouthpiece. 

This  question  of  sincerity  arises  in  school  and  college  debating.  "What 
is  the  position  of  a  speaker  assigned  to  the  side  he  does  not  believe  in? 
In  the  first  place,  the  audience  does  not  understand  from  the  appearance 
of  a  speaker  on  one  side  of  a  school  debate  that  he  necessarily  believes 
in  that  side;  rather  that  he  is  stating  as  well  as  he  can  the  arguments 
for  that  side.  There  is  no  deception.  Is  he  then  to  be  condemned, 
'provided,  he  refrains  from  the  conscious  use  of  unsound  arguments, 
misrepresentation  of  facts,  and  from  declaring  personal  beliefs  which 
are  not  genuine?  In  the  second  place,  very  rarely  can  such  a  student 
be  said  to  have  a  conviction  upon  such  questions  as  are  debated.  He 
thinks  he  believes  in  the  affirmative  of  the  resolution,  "A  minimum  wage 
should  be  established  by  law  in  Ncav  York."  Put  him  on  the  negative 
and  in  a  week  he  will  wonder  how  he  ever  believed  in  the  affirmative. 
Old  or  young,  few  of  us  have  studied  such  questions  enough  to  have  a 
right  to  a  conviction  upon  them.  Usually  these  questions  are  well 
balanced;  there  are  good  arguments  on  both  sides.  Many  a  student 
enters  these  debates  with  so  little  conviction  that  his  choice  of  sides 
depends  upon  the  first  article  he  chances  upon.  Or,  with  the  resolution 
instanced,  he  feels  that  he  is  for  helping  workers  generally,  but  when  he 
studies  the  subject  he  may  be  convinced  that  a  minimum  wage  is  not 
for  the  good  of  the  workers.  I  have  too  often  changed  these  so-called 
convictions  with  three  minutes  of  talk,  to  take  them  seriously.  In  the 
third  place,  the  debater  who  has  looked  at  but  one  side  of  a  question  is 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  •  385 

benefitted,  both  as  a  debater  and  as  a  thinker,  by  being  compelled  to 
consider  with  care  the  other  side.  Until  he  has  done  this  he  has  no  right 
to  a  conviction.  As  a  result  of  considering  both  sides  he  may,  after  the 
debate  is  over,  arrive  at  a  genuine  belief.  The  method  may  not  be  ideal, 
but  it  leads  students  into  a  study  of  problems  so  much  more  sincere  than 
the  study  of  the  average  man,  and  of  the  average  undergraduate,  that  it 
must  be  advocated  as  a  good.  The  very  few  who  have  real  convictions 
in  advance  can  be  accommodated.  I  should  hesitate  to  ask  a  student 
to  speak  against  the  side  he  genuinely  believes  in,  even  in  a  school  debate; 
for  the  temptations  are  strong.  It  must  be  admitted  that  student  de- 
baters are  at  times  insincere  in  their  debating,  just  as  they  are  elsewhere. 
But  when  Mr.  Roosevelt  condemns  debating,  of  which  he  admits  he 
has  no  direct  knowledge,  as  teaching  insincerity,  he  ought,  to  be  consis- 
tent, to  cease  to  encourage  young  men  to  enter  politics,  where  the  temp- 
tation to  accept  and  to  advocate  all  of  a  party  platform  is  far  greater 
and  more  insidious  than  the  temptations  of  debating.  Is  it  not  well 
that  young  men  should  meet  such  temptations  first  under  the  direction 
of  teachers  rather  than  of  bosses.'' 

Earnestness.  Those  who  say  that  sincerity  is  the 
chief  essential  of  persuasion  must  include  in  the  word 
the  idea  of  earnestness.  The  two  words  overlap  but  do 
not  coincide.  A  man  may  be  sincere  in  his  indifference. 
Earnestness  involves  seriousness  and  ardor.  An  audience 
will  forgive  a  speaker  almost  any  lack,  if  he  is  manifestly 
in  earnest  about  his  proposal.  If  he  is  not  really  in 
earnest,  there  seems  to  be  small  reason  why  we  should 
trouble  ourselves;  if  he  seems  to  care  very^  much  there 
is  reason  to  suppose  his  cause  worthy  attention.  Earnest- 
ness moves  our  emotions,  thaws  our  indifference,  and  gives 
us  the  faith  which  a  leader  must  create.  "No  one  can 
give  faith,"  says  Matthew  Arnold,  "unless  he  has  faith; 
the  persuaded  persuade."  "I  must  needs  be  hot,"  said 
Garrison,  "for  I  have  mountains  of  ice  all  about  me." 

We  like  earnestness,  even  when  we  smile  at  its  excesses. 
Of  course,  desperate  earnestness  is  not  expected  on  all 
possible  proposals,  upon  the  grading  of  a  street  as  well 
as  upon  the  removal  of  a  moral  nuisance;   but  whenever 


386  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

one  attempts  persuasion  there  is  expected  the  degree  of 
earnestness  befitting  the  subject.  And  an  audience  will 
rarely  complain  that  their  sjoeaker  is  too  earnest  about 
his  cause,  though  they  may  complain  that  he  takes  him- 
self too  seriously.  Of  course,  we  should  not  confuse 
earnestness  with  mere  noise  and  redness  of  face;  and  on 
the  other  hand,  we  should  not  suppress  earnestness  for 
fear  of  making  a  noise  or  of  getting  red  in  the  face. 

A  cynical  habit  is  bad  for  a  speaker.  Sneering  or  flip- 
pant speech  may  amuse  for  a  moment,  but  it  quickly 
chills  an  audience.  It  destroys  the  sincere,  positive,  ear- 
nest tone  which  rouses  and  warms.  Often,  too,  he  who 
indulges  in  cynical  speech  permits  himself  to  be  unfair 
and  to  sacrifice  truth  to  smartness.  Unfortunately,  many, 
especially  in  college  communities,  cultivate  the  habit  of 
cynical  speech,  a  habit  hard  to  break. 

Persuasion  is  not  Trickery.  There  are  those  who  feel 
that  consideration  of  the  methods  of  persuasion  is  not 
consistent  with  sincerity,  and  who  especially  complain 
that  when  we  talk  of  tactful  ways  of  dealing  with  an 
audience,  we  are  following  the  example  of  the  ancient 
Sophists,  who  seem  to  have  conceived  of  rhetoric  as  the 
art  of  making  the  worse  appear  the  better  reason,  of 
making  fallacy  plausible,  and  of  leading  men  against 
their  judgments.  There  is  no  doubt  that  many  of  the 
suggestions  of  this  and  the  preceding  chapter,  and  indeed 
the  whole  art  of  public  speaking,  may  lend  themselves 
to  unworthy  ends.  When  Aristotle  begins  his  Rhetoric 
he  recognizes  that  the  art  has  been  prostituted  by  Sophists 
to  the  ends  of  falsehood  and  injustice,  and  makes  a  defense 
of  his  undertaking.  I  quote  from  Professor  Jebb's  sum- 
mary : 

"Rhetoric  is  useful,  first  of  all,  because  truth  and  justice 
are  naturally  stronger  than  their  opposites.  When 
awards  are  not  duly  given,  truth  and  justice  must  have 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  387 

been  worsted  by  their  own  fault.  [That  is  to  say,  ])e- 
cause  they  have  not  been  as  well  represented  as  falsehood 
and  injustice.]  But  what  if  it  be  urged  that  this  art  may 
be  abused.^  The  objection,  Aristotle  answers,  applies 
to  all  good  things,  except  virtues,  and  especially  to  the 
most  useful  things.  Men  may  abuse  strength,  health, 
wealth,  generalship.'* 

This  is  no  academic  question  to  be  discussed  in  a 
philosophic  vacuum;  it  relates  to  one  of  the  most  practical 
phases  of  human  life,  the  influencing  of  men  in  their 
every^day  relations,  large  and  small.  We  shall  do  well 
to  remind  ourselves  again  that  the  ethical  questions 
which  arise  are  essentially  the  same  whether  we  are  on 
or  off  the  platform.  On  or  off,  persuasion  may  be  at- 
tempted by  unfair  or  dishonest  means,  or  for  unworthy 
ends.  But  no  man  is  entitled  to  criticise  a  public 
speaker  for  using  persuasive  skill,  for  adapting  his  plea 
to  the  given  audience,  unless  he  himself  is  quite  as  ready 
to  refer  to  Jefferson  Davis  as  a  traitor  in  Mississippi 
as  in  Massachusetts,  to  tell  the  man  from  whom  he  solicits 
a  subscription  that  he  is  a  skinflint,  to  remind  his  middle- 
aged  hostess  of  her  years,  to  introduce  a  speaker  as  an 
unkno\\Ti  from  whom  the  chairman  knows  not  what  to 
expect,  and  in  general  refuses  to  use  tact  to  oil  the  hinges 
of  everyday  intercourse.  However  much  we  may  condenm 
the  insincerity  of  some  social  customs,  we  all  recognize 
that  in  social  intercourse  a  degree  of  tact  is  even  a  virtue. 
In  private  persuasion,  too,  we  all  recognize  that  to  adapt 
our  argument  to  the  one  addressed,  is  wise  and  justifiable. 

No  clear  line  can  be  drawn  between  right  and  wrong 
in  the  matter  of  persuasive  methods.  The  honest  man 
will  be  on  his  guard,  on  the  platform  or  off,  and  will 
endeavor  to  keep  a  goodly  distance  on  the  right  side  of 
such  a  wavering  line  as  an  enlightened  conscience  may 
reveal.     He  will  not  wish  to  have  or  to  deserve  a  reputa- 


388  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

tion  for  trickiness.  He  vdW  not  seek  to  deceive  his 
audience  concerning  his  convictions,  or  practice  that  half 
suppression  which  amounts  to  deception. 

But  honesty  does  not  demand  that  we  speak  all  our 
mind  or  tell  all  the  truth  all  the  time.  Even  the  oath 
to  *'tell  the  truth,  the  whole  truth  and  nothing  but  the 
truth,"  is  not  held  to  mean  that  a  witness  must  tell  all 
he  knows  regardless  of  its  relevancy  to  the  issue.  Hon- 
esty does  not  require  that  we  arouse  a  man's  opposition 
on  all  subjects  when  we  \vdsh  to  persuade  him  in  regard 
to  one;  that  we  antagonize  his  race  pride  when  we  only 
want  him  to  vote  for  a  cleaner  city.  A  5^oung  speaker 
while  discussing  the  relations  of  employers  and  em- 
ployees, went  out  of  his  way  to  sneer  at  church  members. 
When  criticised  for  giving  unnecessary  offense  to  many 
just  employers,  he  rephed  w^th  a  rebuking  air,  *'I  say  what 
I  think!"  Had  his  theme  been  the  shortcomings  of 
church  members  in  regard  to  the  labor  problem,  it  would 
have  been  quite  a  different  matter.  It  is  often  a  speaker's 
duty  to  tell  his  audience  unpalatable  truth,  and  then  he 
should  speak  fearlessly.  But  even  then,  if  he  is  really 
eager  to  gain  acceptance  for  his  truth,  he  will  not  be 
heedless  of  how  he  approaches  his  audience.  The  man 
both  honest  and  just  will  not  fail  to  observe  that,  while 
there  are  times  for  words  like  clubs  or  the  *'whip  of  small 
cords,"  there  are  more  times  for  kindlier  methods.  He 
vnU  never  be  willing  to  confuse  honesty  with  discourtesy, 
egotism,  or  bigotry.  The  man  who  combines  honesty 
with  sympathetic  understanding  of  others,  and  earnest- 
ness of  conviction  with  tolerance,  %\'ill  be  both  sincere  and 
tactful. 

To  those  troubled  over  this  matter,  and  I  am  not  sorry  there  are 
such,  I  commend  the  speeches  of  Paul  as  reported  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  When  one  remembers  the  sternness  with  which  he  uttered 
rebukes,  and  remembers  the  sufferings,  even  unto  death,  which  he  en- 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  389 

dured  for  his  convictions,  one  will  hardly  accuse  Paul  of  being  an  insin- 
cere trickster.  Yet  he  was  one  of  the  most  persuasive  of  speakers. 
The  largest  elements  in  his  persuasion,  no  doubt,  were  the  faith,  the 
convictions  and  the  character  of  the  man;  but  skill  was  not  lacking. 
The  Authorized  Version  of  the  Bible  makes  Paul  begin  his  ad- 
dress to  the  Athenians:^  "Ye  men  of  Athens,  I  perceive  that  in  all 
things  ye  are  too  superstitious.  For  as  I  passed  by,  and  beheld  your 
devotions,  I  found  an  altar  with  this  inscription,  to  the  unknown  god. 
Whom  therefore  ye  ignorantly  worship,  him  declare  I  unto  you." 
Certainly  this  would  not  have  been  tactful  before  those  Athenians, 
proud  of  their  culture;  but  we  have  better  sense  and  better  persuasion 
if  we  adopt  the  translation  of  the  noted  Biblical  scholars,  Conybeare  and 
Howson:^  "All  things  which  I  behold  bear  witness  to  your  carefulness 
in  religion.  .  .  Whom,  therefore,  ye  worship,  though  ye  know  Him 
not.  Him  declare  I  unto  you."  A  cutting  criticism  becomes  an  approach 
to  a  common  ground. 

Paul  goes  on  to  speak  of  the  God  who  "hath  made  of  one  blood 
all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  .  ,  .  that 
they  should  seek  the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  him  and  find 
him,  though  he  be  not  far  from  every  one  of  us:  For  in  him  we  live  and 
move  and  have  our  being;  as  certain  also  of  your  own  poets  have  said. 
For  we  are  also  his  oflfspring."  The  reference  to  an  Athenian  altar, 
the  reminder  of  the  kinship  of  all  races,  the  quotation  from  their  poet, 
and  the  unusually  philosophic  tone  of  the  speech  as  a  whole,  were  all 
attempts  to  win  a  favorable  hearing. 

Read  also  Paul's  speech  before  Agrippa.  He  came  before  Agrippa 
as  a  prisoner  to  make  his  defense :  "I  think  myself  happy.  King  Agrippa, 
because  I  am  to  answer  for  myself  this  day  before  thee  touching  all  the 
things  whereof  I  am  accused  of  the  Jews:  especially  because  I  know 
thee  to  be  expert  in  all  customs  and  questions  which  are  among  the  Jews: 
wherefore  I  beseech  thee  to  hear  me  patiently."  Some  one  has  pointed 
out  that  Paul  paid  Agrippa,  one  of  the  most  dissolute  rulers  of  his 
time,  almost  the  only  honest  compliment  possible.  It  was  Paul  who 
said,  "I  am  become  all  things  to  all  men,  that  I  may  by  some  means 
save  some;"  that  is,  he  adapted  himself  to  his  hearers.  But  he  never 
compromised  his  message,  never  adulterated  the  truth ,  and  never  flinched 
from  plain  speaking. 

Persuasion  is  good  or  bad  as  we  make  it.  It  is  right 
to  persuade  men  if  it  is  right  to  influence  and  lead  them. 

^Acts,  17:22.        ^Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  Vol.  I,  p.  415. 


390  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Who  has  spoken  with  more  glowing  approval  of  the  power 
of  the  orator  than  Emerson?     I  should  not  dare  go  so  far: 

"That  which  he  wishes,  that  which  eloquence  ought 
to  reach,  is,  not  a  particular  skill  in  telling  a  story,  or 
neatly  summing  up  evidence,  or  arguing  logically,  or 
dexterously  addressing  the  prejudice  of  a  company, — 
but  a  taking  sovereign  possession  of  the  audience.  Him 
we  call  an  artist,  who  shall  play  on  an  assembly  of  men 
as  a  master  on  the  keys  of  a  piano, — who,  seeing  the  people 
furious,  shall  soften  and  compose  them,  shall  draw  them, 
when  he  will,  to  laughter  and  to  tears.  Bring  him  to  his 
audience,  and,  be  they  who  they  may, — coarse  or  refined, 
pleased  or  displeased,  sulky  or  savage,  with  their  opinions 
in  the  keeping  of  a  confessor,  or  with  their  opinions  in  their 
bank-safes, — he  will  have  them  pleased  and  humored  as 
he  chooses ;  and  they  shall  carry  and  execute  that  which 
he  bids  them." 

Making  the  Impression  Permanent.  We  should  bring 
together  here  certain  ideas  from  the  preceding  discussion 
of  persuasion,  which  bear  upon  the  problem  of  maintaining 
belief  and  affecting  conduct  in  the  future,  after  the  per- 
sonal influence  of  the  speaker  and  the  impulse  of  the  oc- 
casion have  faded.  The  speaker  may  "wish,  to  control  the 
action  of  his  hearers  at  some  time,  days,  months  or  years 
after  his  speech;  or  he  may  wish  to  start  them  on  a  course 
to  be  continued  for  a  long  period;  as  when  he  is  urging 
a  student  body  to  give  steady  support  to  athletics,  or  when 
a  preacher  urges  righteous  li\dng.  In  either  case  the  task 
is  more  difficult  than  when  the  action  aimed  at  is  imme- 
diate. No  sure  solution  of  this  problem  is  possible,  but 
some  suggestion  can  be  made. 

The  problem  is  still  that  of  attention.  Pillsbury,^  after 
stating  that  voluntary  action  is  the  result  of  attention, 
says  that  the  remote  act  is  the  same  as  the  immediate, 
''except  that  the  movements  are  delayed  to  await  an 

^Attention,  p.  160. 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  391 

appropriate  immediate  stimulus  in  another  set  of  cir- 
cumstances. .  .  .  It  is  decided,  for  example,  that 
if  suflBcient  money  is  available  one  university  will  be  at- 
tended, if  not  another  will  be  chosen.  .  .  .  The 
decision  acts  at  once  to  control  and  influence  later  atten- 
tion." That  is,  if  you  induce  a  man  to-day  to  deter- 
mine that  if  it  rains  next  Friday  night  he  will  go  fishing 
with  you  Saturday  morning,  when  the  rain  conies  he 
gives  no  attention  to  any  other  course  than  going  fishing. 
Sometimes,  Pillsbury  says,  "the  decision  may  even  act 
in  advance  to  make  attention  at  the  moment  practically 
unnecessary."  That  could  hardly  be  in  so  important  a 
matter  as  going  to  college;  nor  can  we  make  sure  that  when 
the  moment  for  action  comes,  attention  will  not  turn 
to  alternative  actions;  for  example,  we  could  not  make 
sure  that  the  young  man  desirous  of  going  to  a  certain 
university,  would  give  over  all  thoughts  of  it,  even  though 
sufficient  funds  were  not  forthcoming.  He  might  yield 
to  the  temptation  to  go  there  anyhow.  An  adviser  who 
in  July  wishes  to  make  sure  that  the  young  man  will 
follow^  the  more  prudent  course  in  September,  will  en- 
deavor to  impress  the  reasons  for  that  course  upon  the 
young  man's  memory  so  that  they  will  persist  and  will 
surely  recur  at  the  moment  of  final  decision. 

Now  we  are  told  that  impressions  persist  according 
to  their  primacy,  frequency,  recency  and  vividness. 
Of  primacy  little  is  to  be  said,  except  that  the  adviser 
will  make  it  a  point,  if  possible,  to  impress  his  views 
before  other  views  are  fixed.  Recency  is  the  one  element 
that  is  lacking  when  we  consider  future  action;  but 
the  term  suggests  the  desirability  of  renewing  one's 
advice  near  the  time  of  final  decision.  Frequency  we 
have  often  emphasized  in  terms  of  repetition;  and  vivid- 
ness in  our  discussions  of  imagery  and  concrete,  specific 
and  pungent  phraseology. 


392  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

We  see  again,  also,  the  importance  of  sound  argument, 
that  will  stand  the  test  of  later  examination  and  hostile 
attack.  The  farther  we  are  looking  into  the  future,  the 
less  we  can  depend  upon  suggestion,  personal  influence, 
or  enthusiasm,  and  the  more  we  must  depend  upon  convic- 
tion. Particularly  do  we  need  to  fix  in  the  minds  of  our 
hearers  arguments  that  are  clear,  simple  and  readily 
remembered.  That  adherent  is  not  verj'  firmly  attached 
to  your  cause  who  can  only  say  when  challenged,  "Well, 
I  remember  that  when  I  heard  the  argument  I  was  con- 
vinced, but  I  cannot  remember  it  now;"  or,  "I  do  not 
quite  understand  it  now."  Brutus 's  speech  was  good 
while  it  lasted,  but  it  was  not  of  a  character  to  stick  in 
mind;  and  Antony's  more  vivid  speech  drove  it  from 
attention. 

Again,  the  keener  the  interests  with  which  a  proposal 
and  the  arguments  for  it  are  associated,  the  better  they 
will  cling;  and  the  larger  the  number  of  these  interests 
the  more  likely  they  are  to  be  suggested  again  and  again 
to  the  hearer's  mind.  Motives  should  be  enlisted  which 
are  strong  and  also  which  are  constant  with  those  per- 
suaded,— their  everyday  working  motives  and  not 
merely  those  that  are  awakened  by  special  inspiration. 
The  desired  action  should  be  thoroughly  associated  \\4th 
customary  modes  of  action  and  with  fundamental  beliefs, 
which  are  themselves  fixed  and  persistent;  and  the  wish 
to  believe  should  be  given  enduring  strength. 

Much  reliance  must  be  placed  upon  the  "set"  of  mind 
established,  upon  7nood  of  conviction.  Arguments,  prece- 
dents and  authorities  can  be  used  to  create  the  feel- 
ing that  the  proposed  course  is  sound,  correct,  respectable, 
safe,  noble,  whatever  is  desirable;  while  the  alternative 
course  and  the  arguments  for  it  can  be  made  to  appear 
unsound,  unsafe,  ignoble,  associated  with  unworthy 
persons  and  despised  courses, — in  general  given  a  charac- 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  393 

ter  which  \\dll  cause  them  to  be  hustled  out  when  they 
presume  again  to  present  themselves  at  the  antechamber 
of  consciousness.  That  is,  the  emotional  attitude  estab- 
lished is  of  high  importance.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose, 
what  is  often  asserted  or  intimated,  thai  a  conviction 
established  by  pure  logical  argument  will  persist  longer 
than  one  which  is  supported  by  emotion.  The  strongest 
conviction  rests  upon  both  reason  and  emotion.  Pro- 
vided the  emotional  attitude  toward  a  given  action  or 
belief  persists,  reasons  will  usually  be  found  to  support 
it,  though  the  original  reasons  have  faded  from  memory. 
Emotions  fade,  but  "when  the  emotion  has  run  its  course,  there  is 
often  left  a  permanent  residue  .  .  that  may  be  designated  as  a 
mood.  This  mood  may  be  vague  and  uncertain,  .  .  or  definite  and 
clear.  In  the  latter  instance  it  may  be  termed  an  'emotionalized  pre- 
judice'; that  is,  a  predisposition  to  act  in  certain  characteristic  ways  in 
the  presence  of  an  object  around  which  center  marked  feeling  values. 
Prejudices  of  this  sort  are  easily  found  in  politics,  morality  and  religion. 
When  once  formed  they  are  extremely  difficult  to  overcome."^  It  should 
be  said  that  the  writers  of  this  extract  give  no  sinister  meaning  to  the 
term  prejudice.  To  them  a  prejudice  may  be  either  good  or  bad.  They 
add:  "Not  only  may  a  mood  be  the  result  of  an  emotionalized  upheaval; 
it  may  become  the  starting  point  of  a  new  expression  of  the  emotion." 
Applying  this  statement  to  our  work,  if  one  awakens  a  strong  emotion 
in  his  hearers,  which  results  in  a  mood,  that  emotion  will  readily  be  awak- 
ened again  by  the  circumstances  with  which  it  has  been  associated. 

We  have  before  noted  the  value  of  inducing  one's  hearers 
to  commit  themselves  at  once,  when  the  principal  action 
desired  is  in  the  future,  so  enlisting  on  one's  side  the  force 
of  inertia  which  keeps  men  moving  in  courses  once  begun, 
reluctance  to  break  with  associations  once  formed,  and 
also  the  pride  which  makes  us  reluctant  to  appear  in- 
consistent. 

Work  to  Do.  It  is  assumed,  of  course,  that  the  student 
of  this  chapter  will  take  his  opportunities  to  apply  the 

^Colvin  and  Bagley,  Human  Behavior,  p.  84. 


394  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

principles  in  persuasive  speeches,  particularly  those  which 
seek  to  overcome  active  opposition.  He  may  also  profit 
by  studying  speeches  of  the  orators.  For  his  present 
purpose  those  speeches  are  best  which  have  sprung 
from  historical  crises.  Eliot's  Debates,  containing  the 
proceedings  of  the  conventions  that  in  the  various  states 
first  adopted  the  National  Constitution;  the  debates  of 
Webster  and  Hayne  and  Webster  and  Calhoun  on  the 
issue  of  Nullification,  and  the  Lincoln-Douglas  debates, 
are  well  adapted  to  the  purpose.  Speeches  of  to-day, 
concerning  matters  great  and  small,  will  prove  suggestive; 
but  the  historic  contests  can  be  better  grasped  because 
of  the  work  which  historians  and  literary  men  have  put 
upon  them.  The  student  should  give  much  attention 
to  the  occasions  of  the  speeches  studied,  and  give  fair  at- 
tention to  both  sides.  He  should  read  with  care  the 
brilliant  speech  of  Hayne  as  well  as  the  famous  Reply; 
the  arguments  of  Douglas  as  well  as  those  of  Lincoln. 

Perhaps  the  best  single  study  will  be  found  in  Bouton's  The  Lincoln 
and  Douglas  Debates,  which  contains  four  complete  debates  of  the 
series,  the  Springfield  and  the  Cooper  Union  speeches  of  Lincoln,  and  a 
good  introduction  and  notes.  Harding's  Select  Orations  Illustrating 
American  History  is  an  excellent  work,  though  there  is  too  much  abbre- 
viation of  speeches.  Webster  s  Great  Speeches  contains  a  good  selection 
of  his  works,  and  is  especially  valuable  as  including  Whipple's  essay  on 
Webster  as  a  Master  of  English  Style.  Webster's  complete  works 
fill  many  volumes,  edited  by  Edward  Everett.  But  in  studying  his  great 
debates  go  to  Debates  and  Proceedings  in  Congress,  or  to  Benton's  abbre- 
viation of  the   Congressional  debates. 

Conclusion.  After  all  this  discussion  of  persuasion, 
I  have  to  say  that  the  subject  is  by  no  means  exhausted. 
It  is  as  large  as  human  nature.  It  is  a  subject  that  grows 
upon  one  with  experience.  I  have  not  tried  to  fix  dogmatic 
rules  for  a  subject  of  such  complexity.  My  hope  is  that 
the  student  will  acquire  such  an  interest  that  he  will 
continue  the   study,  and  such  a  grasp  of  principles   that 


PERSUASION  AND  BELIEF  395 

he  can  make  his  study  profitable.  The  study  will  by  no 
means  be  confined  to  books  and  speeches,  but  will  force 
itself  upon  the  attention  of  one  interested,  in  every  rela- 
tion of  life.  The  principles  given  can  be  tested  and 
elaborated  by  your  own  experiences  in  influencing  others, 
and  in  being  influenced  by  others.  You  can  study  persua- 
sion in  your  relations  with  those  with  whom  you  have  deal- 
ings,— with  those  in  authority  over  you,  with  those  over 
whom  you  have  authority,  and  wath  those  with  whom 
you  must  cooperate.  You  can  learn  a  lesson  from  the 
advertisement,  the  business  letter,  the  gentleman  who 
solicits  your  subscription  for  a  book  or  a  charity,  the 
candidate  who  seeks  your  vote,  the  student  leader  who 
would  arouse  "college  spirit,"  as  w^ell  as  every  move- 
ment and  every  propagandist  of  the  time. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

SELECTING   THE   SUBJECT 

Selecting  the  topic  is  sometimes  the  most  difficult 
part  of  making  a  speech.  The  speaker  in  court,  in  the 
legislature  or  the  convention  and,  to  a  great  extent,  in 
the  pulpit,  finds  his  theme  prescribed  for  him.  The 
theme  of  the  so-called  occasional  address,  also,  may  be 
dictated  with  more  or  less  definiteness  by  the  occasion; 
as  at  a  dedication  or  a  celebration.  But  there  are  times 
when  the  occasion  permits  such  wide  latitude  that  one 
feels  at  a  loss;  and  there  are  times  when  the  demand  is 
simply  for  a  speech,  and  the  chairman  of  the  committee 
on  arrangements  says  \\dth  the  utmost  generosity,  "Oh, 
just  anything  at  all!"  The  problems  that  arise  from  such 
a  situation,  and  some  which  are  common  to  all  occasions, 
call  for  consideration.  The  student  in  a  speaking  class 
especially  needs  some  suggestions. 

Instead  of  mooning  about  with  the  vague  question. 
What  in  the  world  can  I  speak  about  .^  the  seeker  after 
a  bright  idea  should  put  to  himself  certain  questions  which 
will  define  his  possibilities. 

1.  Does  the  occasion  suggest  an  appropriate  theme? 
Little  needs  to  be  said  imder  this  head  except  that  we 
should  avoid  violently  WTcnching  an  occasion  or  a  theme 
from  its  natural  trend,  or  disappointing  the  expectations 
of  an  audience.  For  example,  if  an  audience  has  gathered 
to  do  honor  to  a  man,  they  may  resent,  or  at  least  his 
friends  may  resent,  your  failure  to  render  due  honor  to 
him.  A  Founder's  Day  celebration  at  which  no  mention 
is  made  of  the  founder  does  not  please  his  descendants. 
The  less  personal  the  feeling  of  one's  hearers  for  the  hero, 
the  greater  the  Uberty  allowed  in  theme  and  treatment. 


SELECTING  THE  SUBJECT  397 

Washington's  birthday  has  become  merely  a  patriotic  holi- 
day; but  we  can  hardly  say  the  same  of  Lincoln's  birthday. 
Again,  an  audience  may  come  together  because  they  wish 
to  hear  a  certain  theme  discussed,  either  because  it  is  the 
theme  of  the  hour,  or  because  they  particularly  w^ish  to 
hear  the  speaker  of  the  occasion  on  that  theme.  One 
may  have  good  reason  for  refusing  to  meet  the  expecta- 
tion of  his  audience,  but  it  is  not  lightly  to  be  ignored. 

If  the  first  question  must  be  answered  in  the  negative, 
one  should  then  ask, 

2.  Is  there  an  appropriate  subject  in  which  I  am 
interested,  and  in  which  I  can  interest  my  audience? 
The  student  who  cannot  think  of  an  interesting  theme  is 
a  common  figure  in  classes  in  public  speaking.  If  he  will 
go  to  his  instructor  in  time,  instead  of  taking  Capital 
Punishment  at  the  last  moment,  there  may  be  help  for 
him.  It  is  unwise  to  assign  a  topic;  for  he  is  too  likely  to 
accept  it  without  real  interest.  "What  are  you  interested 
in.'^"  inquires  the  instructor.  The  astonishing  answer  often 
given,  "Nothing,"  really  means,  nothing  that  will  do  for 
a  speech.  The  student's  interests  are  so  near  him  often, 
that  he  cannot  see  them;  or  so  familiar  that  he  assumes 
no  one  would  care  to  hear  of  them. 

"What  are  you  studying.^"  is  the  next  query.  Perhaps 
economics  is  the  student's  present  interest.  There  are, 
of  course,  no  end  of  topics  for  speeches  in  that  field; 
such  as  labor  questions,  socialism,  or  the  single  tax. 
All  are  too  large  for  short  speeches,  but  they  admit  of 
subdivision.  Political  science  suggests  numerous  topics; 
such  as  the  initiative,  the  recall,  city  managers,  bossism, 
and  Tammany  Hall.  Social  science  is  even  more  fruitful 
of  good  topics:  the  problems  of  philanthropy  and  social 
M^elfare, — college  settlements,  playgrounds,  junior  repub- 
lics, summer  camps,  prison  reforms,  eugenics,  etc.  His- 
tory  presents   many   themes   which   can   be   related   to 


398  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

present-day  problems,  and  many  characters  of  high 
interest.  Literature,  especially  the  drama  and  the  novel; 
the  law,  engineering,  agriculture, — in  fact,  every  field  of 
study  offers  something,  if  only  one  can  recognize  it. 

One  student  gloomily  told  me  that  his  specialty  was  Latin,  and  no  one 
could  get  a  topic  out  of  Latin.  "But  why  are  you  studying  Latin  in 
this  age  and  place?"  he  was  asked.  "Are  you  not  ridiculed  by  your 
friends  who  are  so  wise  and  practical  about  chemicals  and  engines?" 
He  made  a  speech  which  was  at  least  as  wise  as  the  average  faculty 
debate  on  educational  problems;  and  he  commanded  interest.  To  a 
despairing  law  student  was  told  how  a  class  had  answered  the  question, 
"How  many  prospective  lawyers  here?"  with  "None;  we  are  all  honest!" 
He  was  stirred  to  a  speech  on  the  ethics  of  law, — a  theme  which  usually 
arouses  the  interest  of  both  lawyers  and  laymen.  Laymen  like  to  hear, 
also,  of  certain  law  problems  that  arise  in  ordinary  affairs,  or  are  dis- 
cussed in  the  papers,  such  as  injunctions. 

Unless  a  student,  however,  has  done  a  considerable 
amount  of  work  in  the  field  from  which  he  proposes  to 
draw  a  topic,  there  is  little  hope  that  he  will  have  gotten 
his  bearings  in  it,  found  out  who  the  authorities  are, 
what  men  have  thought  about  it,  what  theories  are 
exploded  and  what  proved  sound,  wall  have  assimilated 
the  matter  and  determined  his  beliefs,  to  such  an  extent 
that  he  can  deal  with  it  justly.  He  will  do  much  better 
"vvith  a  topic  from  a  study  taken  last  year  than  from  one 
quite  new  to  him.  A  student  submitted  socialism  as  a 
theme,  saying  he  was  just  beginning  a  course  in  the  subject. 
It  was  evident  his  ideas  were  of  the  vaguest,  else  he  would 
not  have  thought  to  present  so  large  a  topic  in  five  minutes. 
It  should  be  further  observed,  by  one  taking  a  theme  from 
class  w^ork,  that  to  give  a  mere  resume  of  lectures  is  not 
very  profitable  as  training;  since  the  search  for  and 
arrangement  of  material  is  an  important  part  of  our  work, 
and  j)ublic  speaking  is  the  expression  of  one's  own  opin- 
ions; and  also  that  such  a  procedure  is  not  honorable 
when  an  original  speech  has  been  called  for. 


SELECTING  THE  SUBJECT  399 

jNIy  own  classes  usually  begin  with  campus  topics; 
that  is,  subjects  that  are  or  ought  to  be  discussed  among 
students.  These  have  certain  advantages:  the  speakers 
have  first-hand  knowledge  of  these  subjects;  and  they 
and  their  hearers  have  keen  interest  in  them.  These 
themes  tend  to  keep  the  beginner  from  assuming  strange 
tones  and  poses,  and  help  him  to  come  into  touch  with  his 
audience.  A  student  addressing  students  upon  student 
interests  does  not  feel  that  the  situation  is  abnormal. 
And  it  is  a  good  thing  for  students  to  study  the  prob- 
lems of  their  campus  life,  upon  which  they  often  have 
prejudices  rather  than  information  and  reasoned  beliefs. 

The  ^dces  of  campus  topics  lie  close  to  their  virtues. 
Too  often  students  feel  that  no  search  for  material  and  no 
thinking  is  needed  on  these  themes,  and  that  it  is  not 
worth  while  to  treat  them  with  care  or  present  them  with 
dignity  and  effectiveness.  They  too  rarely  get  at  the 
principles  involved  by  thorough  analysis.  The  difficulty 
is  plainly  more  in  the  treatment  than  in  the  topics.  But 
inasmuch  as  campus  topics  do  not  as  a  rule  furnish  much 
development,  it  proves  best  to  limit  their  use,  once  a 
class  is  well  launched,  to  those  instances  in  which  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  thorough-going  work  vnW  be 
done;   and  on  those  terms  we  have  some  strong  speeches. 

Some  of  the  best  of  our  recent  speeches  at  Cornell,  winning  orations 
in  fact,  have  been  upon  such  topics  as  College  "Activities,"  and  "What 
is  College  for?"  Topics  that  have  proved  good  in  class  are:  Should 
the  University  control  boarding  houses?  To  what  extent  is  the 
University  responsible  for  the  lives  of  its  students?  The  honor  system 
(in  its  various  forms),  Co-education,  Professional  coaches,  Summer 
baseball,  "Wet"  banquets.  Theory  and  practice  in  professional  courses. 
Should  "bread-and-butter"  courses  be  given  in  the  Arts  College?  The 
four-year  residence  requirement,  Working  one's  way  through  college. 
Any  one  of  these,  though  they  may  be  treated  very  superficially,  permits 
of  high-class  work,  in  getting  at  the  facts,  in  finding  foundation  princi- 
ples, and  in  meeting  the  vieAvs  and  prejudices  of  the  audience. 


400  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

One  speaker's  vice  which  is  peculiarly  noticeable  in 
speeches  on  campus  topics  is  that  of  "carrying  coals  to 
Newcastle."  That  is,  the  student  speaker  proceeds  to 
retail  facts  and  ideas  which  are  the  commonest  of  table 
talk,  as  if  telling  something  new.  But  the  fault  is  less 
a  matter  of  topic  than  of  failure  to  work.  A  student 
wished  to  speak  on  the  seemingly  threadbare  topic. 
Our  need  of  dormitories.  This  question  was  put  to 
him,  "Why  don't  we  have  dormitories?  All  agree  we 
need  them,  and  the  University  has  funds  that  might  be 
used."  He  began  an  investigation.  University  publica- 
tions offered  little;  so  he  went  to  the  treasurer,  who  gave 
him  the  facts  ascertained  by  a  committee  of  the  trustees. 
The  student  came  back  convinced  that  the  trustees  would 
not  be  justified  in  using  the  funds  of  the  University  for 
dormitories,  which  would  make  but  a  small  financial 
return,  and  that  we  must  wait  for  gifts.  He  made  the 
only  speech  of  the  many  I  have  heard  on  the  subject 
that  w^as  worth  making. 

There  are  questions  of  immediate  interest  to  students 
which  are  not  strictly  campus  topics.  One  of  the  best 
speeches  I  have  heard  recently  was  on  the  proposition 
that  students  should  not  do  summer  can^'assing.  ^lany 
of  the  speaker's  auditors  had  done  canvassing  and  resented 
his  strictures.  The  situation  was  very  real  and  some- 
what exciting.  Answers  were  forthcoming.  The  speaker 
had  merely  gotten  hold  of  a  common  ethical  problem  as 
it  related  itself  to  the  experience  of  his  audience. 

One  on  the  hunt  for  a  topic  ^^^ll  do  well  to  consider  if 
he  has  had  any  unique  experiences,  or  has  known  any 
interesting  characters,  or  has  lived  in  a  place  of  peculiar 
interest. 

A  student  replied  to  my  random  questioning  that  his  home  was  in 
Cleveland.  "What  do  you  know  of  Tom  Johnson?"  "Oh,  I  know  a  lot 
about  him;    I  am  related  to  his  family."     "Interesting  man,  was  he 


SELECTING  THE  SUBJECT  401 

not?"  "I  should  think  so!"  "Well,  anybody  who  knows  Tom  Johnson 
and  what  he  did  ought  not  to  lack  for  subjects.  By  the  way,  how  about 
your  'Golden  Rule'  chief  of  police?"  Th^  student  grinned.  "Why,  I 
never  thought  of  those  things.  Had  no  idea  what  to  talk  about. 
Got  two  or  three  subjects  now."     He  was  never  again  at  a  loss. 

Another  student  who  had  failed  to  find  a  good  topic  in  a  whole  term, 
threw  himself  on  my  mercy.  All  my  probing  came  to  naught.  He  had 
had  no  special  experiences.  His  home  town  was  commonplace.  As  an 
afterthought  he  remarked  that  he  had  spent  most  of  his  winters  in 
Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Now,  what  could  be  more  interesting  to  a 
Northern  audience  than  the  first-hand  information  he  had  about  the  life 
of  that  once  belligerent  city?  He  knew  old  confederate  majors  and 
old  plantation  negroes;  his  family  from  ante-bellum  days  had  owned  a 
plantation  near  the  city,  on  which  could  be  studied  many  of  the  South's 
problems.  He  knew  the  Northern  point  of  view  and  the  Southern; 
yet  he  did  not  want  to  talk  of  the  South  or  her  problems,  he  said,  because 
he  did  not  know  enough  about  them!  He  would  have  tackled, 
on  the  slightest  encouragement,  the  currency  bill  or  the  revolution  in 
China,  but  he  did  not  know  enough  of  the  South.  His  first  reaction 
was,  when  urged  to  speak  of  the  South,  "Where  can  I  find  material?" 
In  a  way  he  was  right;  he  did  not  know  enough.  But  he  was  urged  to 
arrange  first  his  own  facts,  impressions  and  opinions;  and  then  to  read 
widely,  including  the  work  of  men  of  many  casts  of  opinion  about 
Southern  problems.  A  large  undertaking;  but  then  he  had  a  fine 
opportunity  to  produce  some  splendid  speeches.  He  did  not  need  to 
do  all  at  once;  but  could  have  begun  on  a  course  that  would  have 
developed  such  a  fund  of  material  and  ideas,  that  he  would  never  have 
been  at  loss  for  a  popular  theme  in  later  years. 

A  conventional  conception  of  public  speaking  some- 
times causes  one  to  overlook  good  subjects;  such  as  those 
pertaining  to  business,  machinery,  and  in  general  to  how 
things  are  done.  Business  methods  and  business  can 
be  made  both  interesting  and  profitable.  Popular  science 
and  machines  and  manufactures  often  offer  good  sugges- 
tions. The  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  certain  types 
of  engines,  or  of  tires,  are  of  interest  in  this  motoring  age. 
How  to  make  automobile  tires,  Diesel  engines,  the  produc- 
tion of  certified  milk,  have  proved  interesting  topics  when 
handled  by  students  who  really  knew  whereof  they  spoke. 


402  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Many  students  come  to  feel  that  in  the  long  run  they 
are  more  benefitted  by  working  upon  the  economic, 
political  and  social  questions  of  the  day,  because  they 
think  they  learn  more  of  permanent  worth.  Certainly 
it  is  well  that  students  should  take  more  interest  in  the 
questions  of  the  day  than  most  of  them  do;  but  a  judicious 
mixture  of  subjects  seems  best. 

The  chief  moral  of  these  remarks  is:  Look  about  you 
and  look  in  yourself  for  topics.  Get  your  eyes  open  for 
them,  and  you  will  find  more  topics  than  opportunities  for 
speaking.  There  is  a  speech  in  almost  any  subject, 
if  you  know  how  to  get  it  out;  though  it  may  not  be  worth 
while  to  get  it  out. 

The  case  is  not  hopeless  even  for  one  who  can  find  no 
suitable  interest  existing  in  his  mind.  If  he  will  make  up 
his  mind  to  do  genuine  work  upon  some  subject  which 
he  feels  he  ought  to  understand,  he  may  gain  benefit 
from  the  study,  as  well  as  make  a  fairly  good  speech. 
Let  him  go  to  the  periodicals  and  look  for  suggestions; 
but  not  to  find  an  article  that  will  furnish  him  all  needed 
material.  He  should  follow  up  the  suggestion  in  many 
places  and  use  his  wits  upon  the  material,  utilizing  the 
directions  of  Chapter  IV.  Or  one  may  take  a  notable 
book  as  his  starting  point;  for  example,  Hunter's  Poverty, 
Bryce's  American  Commonwealth,  Lowell's  Public  Opin- 
ion and  Popular  Government,  Reinch's  World  Politics, 
Lippmann's  Preface  to  Politics,  or  his  Drift  and  Mastery, 
von  Buelow's  Imperial  Germany,  Simond's  Social  Forces 
in  American  History,  Dickinson's  Letters  of  a  Chinese 
Official,  lR.'ices  College  and  the  Future,  Fitch's  The  College 
Course  and  the  Preparation  for  Life,  Eliot's  The  Train- 
ing for  an  Fffective  Life.  Books  written  by  autliori- 
ties,  but  in  a  semi-popular  vein,  are  best  for  the 
purpose.  Many  such  are  suggested  to  a  student  in  his 
various  courses. 


SELECTING  THE  SUBJECT  403 

Mind  you,  this  is  a  *'last  ditch"  method  of  finding  a 
subject.  The  best  topics  will  come  out  of  the  speaker's 
experience, — in  the  broad  sense  of  the  term, — out  of  what 
he  has  been  doing,  observing,  reading,  thinking,  before 
the  search  for  a  subject  began. 

This  "working  up"  of  a  subject  is,  of  course,  not  pos- 
sible for  one  who  puts  his  choice  of  a  subject  off  till  the 
last  moment.  There  must  be  time,  not  only  for  gathering 
material,  but  also  for  assimilation.  Ordinarily  we  cannot 
expect  good  results  unless  a  speaker  in  choosing  his  subject 
two  weeks  in  advance  (which  is  the  minimum  time 
he  should  allow  himself),  has  already  a  good  deal  of 
knowledge  and  interest  in  regard  to  it. 

3.  What  purpose  do  I  wish  to  accomplish?  So  far  we 
have  assumed  that  the  speaker  has  no  purpose  beyond 
interesting,  but  generally  he  will  wish  to  inform,  convince 
or  persuade.  As  Genung  has  said,^  the  speaker  chooses 
an  object  rather  than  a  subject;  and  then  he  chooses  a 
theme  that  will  serve  his  object.  A  stump  speaker,  for 
example,  has  as  his  object  the  winning  of  votes;  but  he 
may  choose  any  one  of  many  topics  to  serve  his  purpose, — 
the  tariff,  the  woolen  schedule,  control  of  corporations, 
which  party  has  the  worst  bosses,  or  economy.  Even 
when  a  speaker's  general  theme  is  prescribed  by  the 
occasion,  he  still  may  make  the  theme  serve  his  own 
purposes.  Thus  on  Lincoln's  birthday,  one  may  honor 
Lincoln's  memory  while  using  his  authority  to  support 
a  policy,  or  to  condemn  the  party  he  helped  to  found. 
George  William  Curtis  was  able  to  grace  with  his  oratory 
all  sorts  of  conventional  occasions,  such  as  dedications, 
commencements  and  the  banquets  of  societies,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  preach  most  effectively  a  high^type  of 
patriotism  and  civic  righteousness.     Without  a  serious 

^Practical  Rhetoric,  p.  258. 


404  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

purpose  occasional  addresses  are  likely  to  be  bombastic, 
dreary  or  absurd  affairs.  The  Gettysburg  Address  is 
masterful  in  the  way  Lincoln  makes  his  more  evident 
and  his  more  remote  purposes  serve  each  other. 

In  considering  purpose,  the  speaker  may  well  ask  him- 
self if  there  is  any  object  to  be  served  by  discussing  the 
topic  under  consideration  before  the  prospective  audi- 
ence. Speeches  in  my  classes  which  urge  the  need  of 
a  new  g;)^mnasium  and  this  and  that  change  in  admin- 
istration, would  be  much  more  appropriate  if  they  could 
be  addressed  to  the  trustees  or  the  faculty.  But  this  is 
fully  as  much  a  question  of  the  adaptation  of  material 
as  of  choice  of  topic. 

A  student  ofifered  these  for  his  first  speeches:     The  student  help  at 

the  cafeteria  should  have  a  rebate  on  their  meals.     He  was 

interested  and  oblivious  of  the  fact  that  we  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
matter.  His  next  offering  was,  Why  our  glee  club  is  so  successful. 
The  speech  turned  out,  as  feared,  only  a  glorification  of  a  local  institu- 
tion,— a  poor  speech  because  there  was  nothing  to  accomplish. 

4.  Is  the  topic  congruous  with  the  mood  of  the  occa- 
sion? This  is  also  largely  a  matter  of  treatment,  but 
it  is  e^^dent  that  some  topics  are  too  heaw  or  somber, 
and  some  too  light  for  certain  occasions;  and  that  an 
attempt  to  adapt  them  would  produce  absurdity  or 
worse. 

5.  Will  my  audience  wish  to  hear  this  topic  dis- 
cussed by  me?  This  has  been  sufficiently  considered  in 
Chapter  X. 

6.  Can  the  topic  be  properly  treated  in  the  allotted 
time?  Most  subjects  can  be  treated  briefly  or  at  great 
length;  but  some  suffer  greatly  in  a  brief  discussion. 
Some  topics  require  much  preliminary  explanation  with  a 
given  audience,  and  some  depend  for  their  force  upon  a 
wealth  of  detail,  as  is  the  case  with  a  speech  intended  to 
impress  the  audience  with  the  character  of  a  person. 


SELECTING  THE  SUBJECT  405 

There  may  be  times  when  it  is  important  to  cover  a 
whole  broad  topic  in  a  speech;  but  usually  it  is  best  to 
confine  one's  self  to  a  subdivision  which  can  be  fairly 
treated  in  the  time  allowed.  Yet  only  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  can  some  be  made  to  believe  that  it  is  better 
to  give  a  thorough  treatment  of  one  idea,  make  one  point 
"stick,"  than  to  give  a  cursory  treatment  of  many  points. 
There  is  a  natural  desire  to  tell  all  one  knows  of  an  inter- 
esting subject,  and  a  liking  for  completeness.  If  one  has 
proved  an  evil,  he  feels  that  he  ought  to  set  forth  a 
remedy.  And  there  is  a  less  worthy  reason  in  the  fact  that 
it  is  easier  to  give  a  superficial  treatment  of  a  large  topic, 
such  as  socialism,  than  a  thoroughgoing  treatment  of 
one  phase.  So  we  have  many  speeches  in  which  many 
points  are  touched  but  all  left  in  confusion,  many  motives 
are  mentioned  but  none  pressed  home,  and  in  which 
neither  evil  nor  remedy  is  established. 

In  trying  to  meet  the  very  real  difficulties  imposed  by 
the  limits  of  time,  when  one  wishes  to  speak  on  a  topic 
which  requires  elaboration,  one  should  consider  the  partic- 
ular audience,  and  ask  himself  what  it  can  be  depended 
upon  to  know,  what  its  points  of  view  are,  and  what  it 
believes.  Perhaps  the  audience  in  a  given  case  can  be 
depended  upon  to  agree  that  the  evil  exists.  Then  after 
a  brief  statement  to  put  the  subject  definitely  before  them, 
the  speaker  can  proceed  at  once  to  the  remedy.  Perhaps 
there  is  one  argument  which  will  draw  others  with  it; 
or  one  motive  that  is  all  sufficient. 

7.  Is  the  topic  too  difficult  for  oral  presentation  under 
the  circumstances?  Subjects  may  be  too  intricate  and 
difficult  for  oral  presentation,  especially  when  there  is 
little  time,  or  when  the  audience  is  not  well  informed. 
Some  philosophical  and  scientific  questions  are  not  avail- 
able before  general  audiences;  though  much  depends 
upon  the  skill  of  the  speaker,  as  is  evidenced  by  Huxley's 


406  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

lectures  on  Evolution.  I  may  instance  the  following  as 
topics  upon  which  speakers  have  failed  because  of  inherent 
difficulties:  The  gj^roscope  compass,  The  fourth  dimen- 
sion, Non-Euclidean  geometry,  The  crawl  stroke  in  swim- 
mmg. 

It  is  quite  true,  as  some  one  may  be  reminding  me,  that  I  have  raised 
in  this  text  many  questions  that  a  speaker  should  answer.  Recently 
a  friend  who  was  studying  medicine  showed  me  the  list  of  questions 
he  had  to  answer  with  regard  to  his  patients  in  the  hospital.  "But 
how  can  you  ever  get  through  with  that  interminable  list.^"  I  demanded. 
"Oh,"  he  replied,  "with  practice  one  gets  to  do  it  very  rapidly."  So 
with  practice  the  speaker  becomes  able  to  diagnose  his  audience  and 
occasion  rapidly.  And  as  not  all  the  questions  on  my  friend's  list  were 
applicable  to  each  case,  so  not  all  of  those  raised  here  are  applicable  to 
each  speech.  But  as  the  progressive  modern  physician's  diagnosis  is 
extraordinarily  searching,  so  that  of  a  speaker  who  wishes  to  improve 
should  be.  There  are  too  many  speakers  like  a  too  common  type  of 
general  practitioner,  who  asks  a  question  or  two  and  passes  out  the  stock 
prescription. 

Topics  Suggested.  Now  that  we  have  some  general 
ideas  on  the  choice  of  themes  for  speeches,  we  may  profit 
by  a  list  of  topics,  though  such  a  list  can  be  only  sug- 
gestive. There  is  no  intention  that  students  shall  confine 
themselves  to  this  list;  nor  is  it  expected  that  they  will 
find  in  many  instances  that  the  subjects  as  stated  are 
exactly  suited  to  their  use.  In  the  first  place,  no  two 
minds  work  just  alike  and  what  one  has  found  good  may 
not  suit  another;  and  in  the  second  place,  many  of  these 
topics  are  much  too  broadly  stated.  They  are  put  in 
merely  to  suggest  possible  fields,  and  should  be  much 
limited.  The  chief  hope  in  giving  this  list  is  to  make 
the  student  react  by  thinking  of  some  kindred  topic, 
which  is  what  he  needs.  The  list  will  do  more  harm  than 
good  if  it  is  made  a  substitute  for  independent  thinking. 
The  classification  is  very  loose;  and  many  of  the  topics 
will  fall  in  one  or  another  class  according  to  treatment. 


SELECTING  THE  SUBJECT  407 

Two  final  suggestions:  Do  not  look  for  perfection  in  a 
subject.  Remember,  a  pretty  good  topic  in  time  is  better 
than  an  ideal  topic  that  is  found  too  late  for  good  prepara- 
tion. And  do  not  look  rapidly  o\'er  several  pages  of 
topics,  dwelling  upon  none.  A  student  said  to  me  the 
other  day:  "I  have  looked  over  two  pages  of  your 
suggested  topics  and  haven't  found  one  I  could  talk  on 
five  minutes."  Of  course  not;  for  he  did  not  dwell  upon 
any  long  enough  to  get  to  thinking  about  it  and  to  see 
what  its  possibilities  were.  Find  the  -group  that  seems 
most  promising,  and  then  go  over  them  slowly,  making 
a  little  analysis  of  any  topic  that  seems  at  all  promising. 
Less  looking  and  more  thinking  is  needed. 

Campus  Topics 

The  honor  system:  {One  of  these  phases.)  The  moral  question 
involved.  What  is  "cribbing".?  The  pure  honor  system.  The  system 
with  machinery  for  enforcement.  Should  students  under  an  honor 
system  be  required  to  report  cheating?  Should  they  be  required  to 
place  a  pledge  upon  their  examination  papers?  Should  there  be  one 
system  for  all  the  colleges  of  a  university?  Should  the  honor  system 
be  extended  to  include  compositions,  reports,  etc.?  Does  the  presence 
of  a  proctor  in  any  way  justify  cheating?  The  student's  sense  of  honor. 
May  a  student  ever  conscientiously  help  another  during  an  examination? 

The  upperclassmen's  right  to  rule.  Faculty  responsibility  for  student 
conduct  and  its  limits.  Should  the  faculty  ever  censor  student  publi- 
cations? Does  the  faculty  govern  too  much?  Should  there  be  three 
days  of  vacation  at  Thanksgiving?  Senior  societies.  Student  activities 
vs.  studious  activities. 

Rise  of  intercollegiate  athletics.  Development  of  football.  College 
life  without  intercollegiate  athletics?  Athletics  and  the  development 
of   sportsmanship.     x\thletics   at   Oxford   compared   with   athletics   at 

.     Commercialization   of   sport.     Do   athletics   cost   too   much? 

Should  the  university  levy  an  athfetic  tax?  Should  a  varsity  athlete 
receive  college  credit  on  easier  terms  than  others? 

Cheer  leaders:  How  select  them?  How  much  leading  should  they 
do?  Ethics  of  cheering  at  games.  Winning  games  from  the  bleachers. 
Limits  of  proper  support  for  a  team.     Let  the  better  team  win.     Should 


408  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

the  coach  direct  the  game?  Why  is  football  the  great  student  game? 
Inducing  preparatory  school  "stars"  to  come  to  one's  college. 

Defence  of  the  "grind."  Value  of  regularity  in  college  routine. 
Students  and  efficiency.  The  excuse  habit.  Should  student  competi- 
tions be  limited  and  regulated?  Does  it  pay  to  go  through  college  if  one 
must  earn  his  way  by  table  waiting,  caring  for  furnaces,  etc.?  How  to 
earn  one's  way  through  college.  Should  students  vote  in  their  college 
town?  Should  a  college  town  be  "dry"?  Large  college  or  small? 
Should  students  be  "rushed"  for  fraternities  in  the  first  term?  Student 
responsibility  for  the  college's  reputation. 

Is  the  main  benefit  of  college  learning  to  deal  with  men?  Is  it  the 
best  place  for  that  purpose?  Is  it  worth  while  to  "play  at  business" 
in  college?  A  liberal  arts  course  for  the  business  man.  A  liberal  arts 
course  for  professional  men.  What  is  a  trained  mind?  What  is  culture? 
What  is  education?  Is  law  a  cultural  subject?  Engineering?  The 
education  of  Oxford.  Of  the  German  university.  The  free  elective 
system.  Spencer's  view  of  education.  When  should  specializing  begin? 
Should  the  A.B.  degree  be  given  for  a  course  which  omits,  for  the  most 
part,  the  humanities? 

Should  attendance  be  required  of  college  students?  Should  a  student 
be  compelled  to  do  his  college  work?  Should  there  be  final  examinations? 
"Confessions  of  an  Undergraduate."  (See  in  The  Outlook  for  July  28, 
1915,  an  article  with  this  title,  and  replies  in  several  later  numbers.) 
Are  our  standards  too  low?  Should  there  be  final  examinations? 
Is  compulsory  military  drill  in  a  university  a  good  thing?  The  evils  of 
free  tuition. 

Advantages  of  a  year's  leave  of  absence  from  college  during  one's 
course.  Should  a  university  be  advertised?  Are  athletic  teams  and 
glee  clubs  the  best  advertisements  of  a  university?  Should  a  student 
who  is  "working  his  way  through  college"  be  passed  on  easier  terms  than 
others?  Should  an  instructor's  pity  for  a  student  have  anything  to  do 
with  his  marks?  A  student's  idea  of  a  proper  excuse  system.  Indi- 
viduality and  a  college  education.  Should  the  state  support  higher 
education?     Is  there  a  good  return  on  the  investment? 

Public  Questions 
The  boss  in  politics.  The  sources  of  his  power.  Is  he  a  necessary 
evil?  How  may  the  boss  be  eliminated?  How  Tammany  gets  the  votes. 
Literacy  test  for  voters.  The  short  ballot.  The  recall.  The  initiative. 
The  Governor's  initiative.  Commission  Government.  Experience  of 
Galveston  (or  any  other  city  which  has  tried  commission  government). 


SELECTING  THE  SUBJECT  409 

Commission  government  for  large  cities.  City  managers.  Home  rule 
for  cities. 

Independence  in  politics.  Party  spirit.  Party  loyalty.  The  Mug- 
wump movement.  Civil  service  reform.  Curtis,  the  independent. 
Cleveland  and  Civil  service  reform.  "To  the  victor  belongs  the  spoils." 
Mr.  Bryan  on  the  reward  of  party  services.  Is  he  right.'^  If  so,  how  far? 
Is  strict  party  loyalty  the  best  road  to  office?  Influence  of  the  independ- 
ent voter. 

Public  ownership  of  water  plants,  of  lighting  plants,  of  street  railways, 
of  telephones.  Inheritance  tax.  Single  tax.  A  living  wage.  Mini- 
mum wage  laws.     Syndicallism,  or  the  I.  W.  W. 

Immigration:  A  danger  to  our  institutions.  To  labor .'^  Should  we 
object  to  those  immigrants  who  earn  money  and  carry  it  away.''  What 
kind  of  immigrants  do  we  want.''  Distribution  of  immigrants.  How 
can  we  wisely  restrict  immigration?  Japanese  immigration.  Is  Cali- 
fornia justified  in  her  attitude? 

The  liquor  problem.  Effect  of  alcohol  on  the  human  system.  Effect 
on  the  skilled  worker.  Liquor  and  the  English  factory  worker.  Tem- 
perance and  teetotalism.  Economics  of  the  liquor  problem.  Is  prohi- 
bition right  in  principle?  Can  prohibition  prohibit?  The  case  of 
Maine.  Of  Kansas.  Local  option.  State  prohibition.  National 
prohibition.  State  dispensary  system.  Army  canteen.  Liquor  and 
the  war.  How  Sweden  handles  her  problem.  The  manufacturer's 
attitude.  Sunday  selling.  Personal  liberty.  Best  attitude  for  young 
man  toward  liquor. 

Social  Problems 

The  habitually  poor.  Should  we  let  the  destitute  die  off?  The 
thrifty  pauper.  Giving  to  beggars.  Organized  charity.  State  tramp 
farms.  Poor  houses.  Children's  homes.  Neighborhood  nurses.  Play- 
grounds and  swimming  pools.  Vacant  lots  for  gardens.  Child  labor. 
Why  children  work  in  factories.  Why  should  not  children  work? 
Right  of  the  state  to  limit  labor  of  women  and  children  in  their  freedom 
of  contract.  Low  wages  and  morality.  Welfare  work  of  employers. 
Model  villages.     Profit  sharing. 

Criminals  and  vagrants.  The  probation  system.  Juvenile  courts. 
Honor  system  for  convicts.  "Welfare  leagues"  in  prisons.  Stripes  and 
the  lock-step.  Is  the  criminal  responsible  for  his  crime?  Prison  labor. 
Reformatories  vs.  prisons.  Obligation  of  society  to  provide  healthful 
prisons.  Prisons  as  schools  of  crime.  Insanity  as  a  defense  in  criminal 
actions.     Increase  of  homicide  in  this  country.     Lynching. 


410  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

The  feminist  movement:  What  is  it?  Effect  on  marriage.  On 
the  home.  "Women,  once  our  superiors,  now  our  equals."  Women  in 
the  industrial  world.  In  education.  As  politicians.  "Taxation  without 
representation."  The  right  to  vote.  Does  woman  need  the  ballot? 
Does  woman  wish  the  ballot?  Women  and  the  liquor  problem. 
Women  as  office-holders.  Militancy.  Women's  suffrage  and  social 
welfare. 

Topics  for  Exposition 

How  fishes  swim.  (Everyone  thinks  he  knows,  but  few  do  know. 
Such  a  topic  proves  interesting.)  Fertilization  of  flowers.  Mendel's 
law.  Acquired  characters.  How  trenches  are  made.  Outposts. 
Supplying  an  army  in  the  field.  Range  firing.  The  American  serve 
in  tennis.  WTiat  is  rehgion?  W^hat  is  philosophy?  Science?  What  is 
hedonism?  Pessimism?  "\Miat  is  hypnotism?  The  origin  of  language. 
What  is  socialism?  What  is  gambling?  What  is  a  contract?  Contrib- 
utary  negligence.  Intoxication  as  a  defense.  Conspiracy  in  restraint 
of  trade.     How  the  workingmen's- compensation  law  works. 

How  paper  is  made.  Portland  cement.  Coke  manufacture.  Ham- 
burg's filtration  system.  Building  the  Detroit  River  tunnel.  Principle 
of  a  four-cycle  gas  engine.  The  carburetter.  The  magneto.  Making 
fertilizer  from  the  air.  Perpetual  motion.  Why  the  aeroplane  flies. 
How  a  phonograph  works.  How  a  horse  is  trained.  How  the  salt  beds 
2,000  feet  under  Ithaca  were  formed. 

Historical 

Origin  of  the  Constitution.  States  rights  and  centralization.  (May  • 
be  treated  historically  and  also  as  related  to  present.)  W^hy  the  Union 
was  formed.  Problems  confronting  the  constitutional  convention. 
Compromise  in  the  Constitution.  Development  by  interpretation. 
Comparison  with  the  British  constitution.  Strict  construction.  John 
Marshall.  Hamilton.  Jefferson.  Madison.  Responsibility  of  the 
President.  Slavery  in  the  Constitution.  Calhoun  and  nullification. 
Webster  and  the  Union.  Hayne's  speech.  Clay's  work  for  harmony. 
Compromise  of  1820.  Of  18o0.  The  Kansas-Nebraska  struggle. 
Stephen  A.  Douglas.  Alexander  H.  Stephens.  Jefferson  Davis. 
John  Brown.  Garrison.  ^Vhy  the  war  came.  What  if  war  had 
been  avoided.     Reconstruction. 

Jefferson:  The  man.  Early  career.  In  the  Continental  Congress. 
In  France.  As  secretary  of  state.  Jefferson  and  Adams.  Jefferson 
and  Hamilton.  As  President.  The  Louisiana  purchase.  The  patron 
saint  of  democracy. 


SELECTING  THE  SUBJECT  411 

Ethical 

"My  country,  may  she  always  be  right;  but — right  or  wrong — my 
Country."  "My  Country,  right  or  wrong.  If  right,  to  keep  her  right; 
if  wrong,  to  set  her  right."  Is  the  Golden  Rule  workable?  Is  returning 
good  for  evil  practicable.'*     Is  non-resistance  feasible? 

The  philosophy  of  Omar's  Rubaiyat.  The  view  of  life  presented  in 
Ecclesiastes.  Longfellow's  Psalm  of  Life.  Jacques  in  As  You  Like  It. 
Tennyson's  Palace  of  Art.  Browning's  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra.  The  epicurean . 
The  active  life  and  happiness.  Education  and  happiness.  x\im  in  life. 
The  ideal  life.  The  Puritan.  Puritan  and  Quaker.  Puritan  and  Cava- 
lier. A  typical  Puritan.  Puritan  and  tolerance.  Puritan  as  pictured 
by  Hawthorne. 

Miscellaneous 

Smoke  prevention  in  cities  should  be  compulsory.  Should  the 
Chicago  terminals  be  electrified?  Use  of  the  open  caison.  Should 
the  course  in  civil  engineering  be  made  five  years?  Should  engineers 
be  required  to  take  out  licenses?  Government  control  of  water  powers. 
Motor  fuel.  Should  engineering  students  be  required  to  take  English? 
Economics?     Engineer  as  manager.     Engineer  and  public  affairs. 

What  is  architecture?  Architecture  of  Stanford  University.  The 
Parthenon.  The  Pantheon.  The  Grand  Central  Station  in  New  York 
City.  Its  arrangement.  Its  style.  Foundations  of  the  Woolworth 
building.  Sewage  disposal  for  the  country  home.  Indirect  lighting 
for  the  home.  Thomas  Jefferson  as  an  architect.  Dealing  with  patrons. 
With  contractors. 

The  lawyer  in  history.  In  Greece.  In  Rome.  In  England.  In 
foreign  lands  to-day.  The  law  as  a  learned  profession.  As  a  business. 
As  a  stepping  stone  to  other  businesses.  College  trained  or  office 
trained.  Lawyer  as  citizen.  As  public  man.  As  legislator.  As 
leader.  Ethics  of  law  practice.  Defense  of  the  guilty.  Duty  to 
client.  To  the  court.  The  shyster.  The  ambulance  chaser.  Contin- 
gent fees.  The  criminal  lawyer.  The  office  lawyer.  The  trial  lawyer. 
The  corporation  lawyer.  Psychology  and  legal  evidence.  Cross- 
examination.  The  law's  delays.  Necessity  for  technicalities.  Excess 
of  technicalities.  How  judges  make  law.  A  great  lawyer.  A  great 
case.  McCulloch  vs.  Maryland.  The  Dartmouth  College  case.  Allen 
vs.  Flood.     Gibbons  vs.  Ogden. 

Journalism:  Rise  of.  "Let  me  make  the  newspapers  and  I  care  not 
who  makes  the  religion  or  the  laws."  The  press  as  an  educator.  Free- 
dom of  the  press.  Necessary  limitations.  Censorship  of  the  press. 
Political  power  of  the  press.     The  partisan  newspaper.     Is  the  asso- 


412  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

ciated  press  a  dangerous  monopoly?  Journalistic  enterprise  and  yellow 
journalism.  Stealing  private  papers.  Attacks  on  public  men.  Jour- 
nalistic blackmail.  Plea  that  the  public  demands  sensationalism.  The 
New  York  American  as  a  newspaper  type.  The  New  York  Evening  Post. 
Philadelphia  North  American.  Kansas  City  Star.  Horace  Greely. 
Charles  A.  Dana.  E.  L.  Godkin.  W.  R.  Hearst.  My  ideal  newspaper. 
Responsibility  for  advertising.  For  error.  How  much  should  we  read 
the  papers?     The  weekly  reviews. 

The  theatre.  Drama  in  Athens.  In  Rome.  The  miracle  plays. 
The  Chinese  stage.  In  the  days  of  Shakespeare.  "Legitimate"  drama 
of  to-day.  Musical  comedy.  Effect  of  moving  pictures  on  theatre 
business.  Upon  drama.  The  sex  play.  "Damaged  Goods."  •  Shakes- 
peare and  Shaw.  The  college  play.  The  endowed  theatre.  The  theatre 
in  Germany.     Joe  Jefferson,     Henry  Irving.     Charlotte  Cushman. 

Agitation  and  reform.  Philosophy  of  reform.  Of  agitation.  Of 
conservatism.  Of  compromise.  Lincoln  and  Garrison  compared. 
Methods  of  agitation. 

Democracy.  How  much  of  it  do  we  want.  Vox  populi,  vox  dei. 
Democracy  as  an  educator.  Democracy  and  efficiency.  And  genius. 
As  a  moral  force. 

Advertising.  Attention  and  advertising.  Advertising  as  persuasion. 
Repetition  in  advertising.  Catch  phrases.  Waste  in  advertising. 
Does  honest  advertising  pay? 

Disregard  for  law.  American  tendency  to  tolerate  abuses.  The 
futility  and  worth  of  institutions.  Multiple  personality.  Modern 
dancing.     Novel  reading.     How  to  read  books.     "Seeing  is  believing." 

Special  Programs 

The  suggestions  which  follow  are  especially  for  teachers  rather  than 
for  students,  but  might  help  the  latter  also.  They  are  the  product 
of  experience  with  classes  in  extemporaneous  speaking,  where  a  number 
of  speakers  are  asked  to  treat  the  same  general  topic.  Many  of  the 
subjects  above  have  been  used  in  the  same  way. 

As  a  method  of  killing  two  birds  with  one  stone,  I  ask  each  speaker 
to  prepare  a  lecture  upon  some  part  of  a  text  on  public  speaking;  say 
Phillips's  Effective  Speaking.  Not  much  originality  is  expected,  except 
in  illustration.  The  text  may  be  used  to  a  reasonable  extent  during  the 
talk.  Members  of  the  class  may  ask  questions,  and  are  held  responsible 
for  the  content  of  the  lectures  on  examination. 

A  similar  program  can  be  worked  out  without  reference  to  a  partic- 
ular work,  with  such  topics  as  introductions,  conclusions,  ethics  of 
borrowing,  courtesy  to  opponents. 


SELECTING  A  SUBJECT  413 

A  character  sketch.  Each  speaker  is  to  present  an  actual  character 
so  that  the  character  shall  seem  real  and  significant.  The  chairman, 
a  member  of  the  class,  may  speak  upon  the  significance  of  biography. 
Directions  to  the  class  are  something  like  these:  Make  your  hearers 
acquainted  with  the  personality  you  present.  Choose  a  person  you  know 
at  first-hand,  or  of  whom  you  have  intimate  knowledge.  Let  your 
character  be  one  worth  considering,  though  not  necessarily  famous, 
and  to  you  either  admirable  or  the  opposite.  Do  not  choose  a  familiar 
figure  of  the  campus  or  of  the  press,  because  there  would  be  no  real 
test  of  effectiveness.  Consider  what  method  will  be  most  effective: 
a  connected  biography,  or  selected  incidents  arranged  about  certain 
characteristics.  Note  well  that  no  abstract  presentation  of  qualities 
can  make  a  character  "convincing." 

Variation  of  the  preceding:  Let  each  speaker  present,  A  hero  of 
mine. 

.  Each  speaker  is  to  make  a  speech  upon  some  one  characteristic  of 
Lincoln  (or  other  well  known  character),  using  at  least  one  incident  from 
his  life  as  an  illustration.  The  story  is  to  be  orderly,  clear  and  to  the 
point.  Details  are  to  be  chosen  that  give  a  definite  impression,  without 
superfluity  and  without  barrenness.  The  story  must  really  illustrate, 
and  not  be  dragged  in. 

Each  speaker  is  to  make  a  speech,  on  any  subject  he  likes,  in  which  he 
uses  a  story,  or  other  illustration,  in  such  a  way  that  it  aids  in  making 
the  point.  It  must  not  be  used  for  its  own  sake.  If  nothing  else  occurs 
to  one,  he  may  turn  to  ^Esop's  fables. 

(The  purpose  of  the  two  preceding  exercises  is  to  encom-age  the  use 
of  illustrations.  Students  rarely  use  them,  and  when  told  to,  think 
of  nothing  but  stale  banquet  stories.  Insist  upon  pith,  point  and  pro- 
priety. In  order  to  impress  certain  points  about  story  telling  I  often 
have  an  exercise  with  stories  reproduced  from  such  wo-iters  as  Hawthorne, 
Poe,  Kipling.  This  is  always  enjoyed  and  serves  to  some  extent  to 
awaken  the  artistic  sense.) 

Each  speaker  on  the  program  is  to  read  the  articles  in  the  Nation 
entitled.  Observations  in  a  Big  University,  Vol.  76,  at  pages  66  and  88, 
and  speak  on  a  topic  suggested  by  them.  (They  have  to  do  with  cul- 
tiu-e,  democracy,  commonness,  table  waiting,  social  life,  etc.  Is  the 
writer  a  snob,  or  is  she  right  .^) 

Description  of  a  phase  of  real  life  in  a  community  well  known  to  the 
speaker,  but  not  to  the  audience,  if  possible.  Choose  with  care  means  of 
making  real  to  us, — setting,  anecdote,  customs,  sayings,  occupations, 
pleasures,  anything  that  will  serve  to  fix  a  definite  picture  in  our  minds. 


414  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

or  make  the  life  real  to  us.  Do  not  try  to  convey  merely  the  unique 
features. 

Describe  a  scene  to  give  a  definite  impression,  as  of  its  grandeur, 
desolation,  variety,  etc. 

Again,  the  aim  may  be  simply  to  make  the  audience  see  the  scene  as 
it  is.     Give  special  attention  to  point  of  view. 

Religion:  My  point  of  view.  It  is  understood  that  each  will  speak 
frankly,  but  with  entire  courtesy  towards  those  who  differ.  (I  never 
submit  this  topic  without  securing  the  assent  of  all  the  class  to  these 
conditions.) 

One  good  reason  for  voting  for  (any  candidate  of  general  interest). 
(This  program  is  for  use  just  before  election.) 

The  liquor  problem.     My  solution. 

What  I  get  enthusiastic  about. 

Discussion  by  each  member  of  one  of  the  best  articles  that  has  recently 
appeared. 

My  favorite  book.     (Make  your  hearers  want  to  read  it.) 

Read  with  care  Letters  of  a  Chinese  Official,  and  be  prepared  to  speak 
upon  any  topic  drawn  from  it.  Have  your  ideas  in  usable  form.  Attack 
or  defend  the  book  as  you  please. 


CHAPTER  XV 

FINDING   MATERIAL — ORIGINALITY 

The  efficient  use  of  the  stores  of  material  in  a  Ubrary 
is  an  art  worthy  your  attention;  and  an  art  so  difficult 
that  its  adequate  treatment  demands  a  volume  written 
by  an  expert.  A  few  suggestions  helpful  to  the  average 
reader  can  be  offered  here. 

Make  a  beginning  on  improving  the  efficiency  of  your 
research,  by  going  into  the  best  library  within  reach 
and  browsing  around.  If  the  library  publishes  a  descrip- 
tive pamphlet,  obtain  a  copy  to  aid  you.  Acquaint  your- 
self with  the  methods  of  cataloguing.  You  will  find  that 
nearly  all  books  are  entered  in  three  ways:  under  the 
author's  family  name,  under  subject  and  under  titles. 
Observe  the  guide  cards  and  the  cross  references.  Find 
names  beginning  with  De,  Van,  von,  M',  Mc,  St.,  names 
with  German  umlauts,  and  compound  names, 

Finding  the  Books.  Much  time  can  be  saved  in  finding 
the  literature  on  a  subject,  if  you  can  get  hold  of  a  bibli- 
ography on  the  books  and  articles  relating  to  it.  The  card 
catalogue  may  reveal  the  existence  of  such  a  bibliography 
in  your  library.  Get  the  use  for  a  half-hour  of  Kroeger's 
Guide  to  the  Study  and  Use  of  Reference  Books.  Or  turn 
to  the  American  Library  Index,  which  publishes  lists  of 
bibliographies  on  all  sorts  of  subjects.  A  librarian  can 
sometimes  obtain  for  you  a  bibliography  on  a  topic  of 
large  public  interest,  from  the  Library  of  Congress. 
Articles  in  cyclopedias  frequently  include  bibliographies. 
The  Book  Review  Digest,  an  "evaluation  of  literature," 
gives  brief  notices  of  the  newest  books. 

The  American  Catalogue  of  Books,  1876  to  date. 
The  English  Catalogue  of  Books,  1801    to   date,  and   the 

415 


416  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

American  book-trade  publications,  The  United  States 
Catalogue  of  Books  in  Print  in  1912,  continued  by  the 
Cumulative  Book  Index,  issued  annually,  and  Publishers' 
Weekly,  and  the  published  catalogues  of  the  three  great 
libraries,  the  British  Museum  Library,  the  Bibliotheque 
and  the  Library  of  Congress  (a  card  catalogue  found  in 
large  libraries), — any  or  all  of  these  may  serve  to  inform 
you  of  the  books  in  existence  on  a  given  subject;  and 
though  the  books  you  want  may  not  be  in  your  library, 
still  you  may  be  able  to  obtain  them  by  purchase,  by 
visiting  a  larger  library,  or  by  loan  through  the  good 
offices  of  the  head  of  your  library. 

The  Magazines.  As  a  guide  to  magazine  articles  we 
have  Poole's  Index  to  Periodical  Literature.  Read  its 
introduction  to  learn  its  system.  Note  in  particular  the 
system  of  cross  references.  This  covers  the  period  of 
1882  to  1910.  For  later  years  we  have  the  Reader  s 
Guide.  It  is  published  monthly  and  cumulated  in  yearly 
volumes.  It  began  in  1902,  under  the  name  of  the  Cumu- 
lative Index.  There  is  also  the  Magazine  Subject-Index  and 
Dramatic  Index.  It  began  in  1908.  Its  monthly  edition 
is   the    Bulletin    of   Bibliography    and    Dramatic  Index. 

For  finding  articles  in  newspapers  we  may  turn  to  the 
yearly  indexes  published  by  the  London  Times  and  the 
New  York  Times.  These  may  be  used  for  other  papers 
by  taking  the  dates  as  clues.  The  indexes  of  such  weekly 
and  monthly  publications  as  review  current  events  will 
help  in  fixing  the  dates  of  newspaper  items.  The  Ameri- 
can Library  Index  has  an  index  to  dates  of  importance 
in  each  year,  and  the  Information  Quarterly  is  a  digest 
of  current  events  that  can  be  used  with  newspaper  files. 
You  wall  probably  find  in  your  librarj^  the  bound  volumes 
of  several  daily  and  weekly  papers. 

Legislation,  Investigations,  Reports,  etc.  The  Public 
Information  Service,    is  a  bi-monthly  index  to  investiga- 


FINDING  MATERIAL  417 

tions  into  state  and  municipal  problems,  court  decisions 
on  constitutional  questions,  proceedings  of  international, 
national,  state  and  municipal  organizations,  civic  and 
social  organizations,  bar  associations,  and  important 
legislation.  The  New  York  State  Library  publishes  a 
bulletin  on  legislation,  which  is  a  digest  of  the  laws  passed 
in  the  whole  country.  Turn  to  the  card  catalogue  in  a 
large  library,  and  look  over  the  list  of  reports  published 
by  any  state,  upon  labor,  taxation,  insurance,  education, 
etc.     Look,  for  example,  under  the  heading  "Wisconsin." 

United  States  Government  Publications.  You  will 
see  by  Kroeger's  Guide  that  these  are  extremely  numerous. 
Among  the  more  important  are  the  Abstract  of  the  Census, 
the  Statistical  Abstract,  dealing  "v\dth  population,  finance, 
commerce,  products,  immigration  and  education;  Cata- 
logue of  the  Public  Documents  of  the  United  States;  the 
Congressional  Record  and  the  Sessioiial  Indexes  for  finding 
speeches  in  the  Record.  The  Record  does  not  include 
bills,  which  can  sometimes  be  obtained  from  your  con- 
gressman. Those  passed  may  be  found  by  consulting  the 
Catalogue  of  Public  Documents  or  in  the  United  States 
Statutes.  To  find  the  report  of  a  department  look  in  the 
library  catalogue  under  "United  States"  for  the  name  of 
the  department.  Many  of  these  reports  can  be  obtained 
by  sending  a  request  to  the  proper  department.  You 
should  become  familiar  vdih  some  of  the  special  reports, 
as  the  Report  of  the  United  States  Industrial  Commis- 
sion. 

One  often  "VNishes  to  gain  information  in  regard  to 
particular  facts  rather  than  to  find  a  book  to  read  as  a 
whole  upon  his  subject;  and  a  vast  number  of  works  to 
supply  this  need  have  been  and  are  constantly  being 
compiled.  One  should  not  despair,  before  looking  in  these, 
of  finding  out  any  fact  that  has  interest  for  any  consider- 
able number  of  persons.     It  will  prove  profitable  to  look 


418  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

these  compilations  over,  searching  for  information  on 
any  topics  whicli  come  to  mind. 

The  Year  Books :  The  New  International  Year  Booh; 
The  American  Year  Booh;  The  Statesman  s  Y ear  Booh,  \xnst- 
wortliy  and  especially  valuable  as  giving  the  sources  for  all 
kinds  of  statistics;  the  World  Almanac;  the  Tribune 
Almanac.     You  should  own  one  of  these  almanacs. 

For  historical  facts  see:  Harpers  Booh  of  Facts, 
Hay  den's  Dictionary  of  Dales;  Larned's  History  for 
Ready  Reference;  Gooch's  Annals  of  Politics  and  Culture. 
These  are,  of  course,  chiefly  useful  for  finding  isolated 
facts,  and  are  not  to  take  the  place  of  more  complete 
works. 

For  biographical  facts:  The  Dictionary  of  National 
Biography,  the  most  comprehensive  work  of  its  kind, 
but  includes  no  living  p>ersons;  Lippincott's  Biographical 
Dictionary,  to  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century;  the 
National  Cyclopedia  of  American  Biography,  devoted 
mainly  to  contemporaries,  1892-1901;  Who's  Who,  an 
English  work;  Who's  Who  in  America;  Allibone's  Critical 
Dictionary  of  English  Literature  and  Biography . 

For  literary  facts:  Granger's  Index  to  Poetry  and 
Recitation,  giving  titles,  authors  and  first  lines;  Peet's 
Who's  the  Author?  a  brief  account  of  novels,  stories, 
speeches,  songs  and  general  writing  in  America;  Brewer  s 
Dictionary  of  Phrase  and  Fable,  "giving  the  derivation, 
source,  or  origin  of  common  phrases,  allusions  and  words 
that  have  a  tale  to  tell";  Brewer  s  Reader  s  Handbook 
of  famous  names  in  fiction,  allusions,  references,  proverbs, 
plots,  stories  and  poems;  BartletVs  Familiar  Quotations; 
Dictionary  of  Quotations,  by  Harbottle  and  others, 
including  quotations  classical  and  modern,  in  English 
and  in  foreign  tongues. 

If  you  are  working  on  the  selection.  Who  is  to  Blame, 
in  Chapter  IX,  and  msh  to  learn  about  Jeremy  Diddler, 


FINDING  MATERIAL  419 

look  in  Brewer  s  Reader  s  Handbook,  or  in  Webster's 
New  International  Dictionary,  in  the  lower  division  of 
the  page;  but  if  you  wnsh  to  learn  about  Dick  Turpin  or 
Jonathan  Wild,  who  were  real  characters,  or  about  Tweed, 
who  is  referred  to  under  the  name  of  Wild,  look  in  a 
biographical  dictionary. 

Finally,  one  of  the  most  expeditious  and  satisfactory 
ways  of  finding  material  is  to  ask  an  expert  in  the  subject 
what  the  authoritative  books  are. 

What  to  Read.  Any  book  or  article  on  your  subject 
may  be  worth  reading;  if  not  for  its  information  and  argu- 
ments, at  least  for  its  viewpoints.  But  when  there  is  a 
great  mass  of  material  at  hand,  it  is  usually  wise  to  pick 
and  choose.  In  any  case,  you  will  do  well  to  read  the 
better  works  first.  How  shall  you  know  which  are  the 
better  works?  You  may  ask  a  specialist  in  the  subject. 
From  your  searches  through  catalogues  and  indexes 
you  will  gain  some  impressions  as  to  who  are  the  important 
writers  on  the  subject.  You  can  infer  something  of  their 
standings  by  observing  the  character  of  the  publica- 
tions which  accept  their  articles.  You  can  observe  which 
books  are  recommended,  or  noted  as  important,  in  the 
most  bibhographies.  From  articles  read  you  can  gain 
some  idea  of  the  names  which  are  generally  respected. 
You  can  learn  from  title  pages  and  from  Who's  Who  of 
the  works  produced  and  positions  held  by  your  authors; 
or  you  may  be  able  to  find  a  more  authoritative  biography. 
You  can  judge  from  the  date  of  publication  whether  the 
work  represents  the  latest  views, — a  matter  of  much  more 
importance  in  some  subjects  than  in  others.  None  of  this 
evidence  is  conclusive,  but  any  of  it  may  be  helpful  in 
determining  whether  a  book  is  authoritative  and  what 
discounts  to  make.  When  in  regard  to  such  a  remarkable 
history  as  that  contained  in  Prince's  Dissociation  of 
Personality,  I  ask  a   psychological  friend  if  it  is  to  be 


420  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

taken  at  face  value,  and  am  told,  "Yes,  so  far  as  facts 
go,"  I  know  how  to  read  the  book.  Of  course,  the 
final  test  of  a  book  is  the  book  itself;  but  the  less  versed 
one  is  in  a  subject  the  more  one  needs  aid  in  selecting 
reading  upon  it.  The  tests  for  authorities  set  down  in 
Chapter  XIII,  may  be  reviewed  and  applied  here. 

In  any  case,  do  not  be  satisfied  with  reading  a  careless 
article,  or  with  reading  one  article  or  book.  Read  enough 
to  gain  a  comprehensive  view  of  your  subject,  and  to 
learn  the  various  opinions  held  in  regard  to  it. 

How  to  Read.  In  taking  up  a  book,  examine  title 
page,  preface  and  introduction.  These  will  enable  you  to 
understand  the  book  better,  because  you  v^iW  know  better 
what  the  author  has  tried  to  do,  the  scope  of  the  work, 
its  point  of  view  and  its  liniitations.  You  will  be  better 
able  to  decide,  too,  whether  it  is  an  impartial  statement 
of  facts,  or  a  statement  of  facts  manipulated  to  establish 
a  thesis.  Look  at  the  table  of  contents  to  get  the  plan 
of  the  chapters;  and  look  over  the  index,  or  the  index 
volume  if  you  are  dealing  with  a  set  of  works.  Time  spent 
in  getting  acquainted  with  a  book  ^vill  save  time. 

As  for  the  actual  reading,  what  better  can  be  said 
than  was  said  long  ago  by  Bacon?^  "Read  not  to  contra- 
dict and  confute,  nor  to  believe  and  take  for  granted, 
nor  to  find  talk  and  discourse,  but  to  weigh  and  consider.'* 
Read,  that  is,  open-mindedly,  not  with  awe  of  the 
printed  page,  not  simply  to  find  support  for  your  own 
views,  ignoring  or  rejecting  all  that  refute  them,  and  not 
simply  to  find  pat  quotations  or  something  to  fill  up  with; 
but  ^^'ith  mind  alert  for  all  the  truth  and  •\;\'ith  critical 
judgment.  Read  and  think,  and  think  more  than  you 
read.  Compare  what  you  read  with  what  you  already 
have  in  mind.  Keep  in  mind  as  you  read  any  special  bias 
of  the  WTiter;  for  example,  in  reading  Mills,  or  Ricardo  on 

^Bacon's  Essays,  On  Studies. 


FINDING  MATERIAL  421 

economics,  remember  that  they  wi*ote  as  behevers  in  the 
doctrine  of  laissez  faire. 

Bacon  continues:  "Some  books  are  to  be  tasted, 
others  to  be  swallowed,  and  some  few  to  be  chewed  and 
digested;  that  is,  some  books  are  to  be  read  only  in  parts; 
others  are  to  be  read  but  not  curiously  [carefully];  and 
some  few  are  to  be  read  wholly,  with  diligence  and  atten- 
tion." Ability  to  skim  books  wisely  is  needed  by  every 
reader;  but  it  seems  that  students  to-day  are  sent  through 
so  many  books  in  haste,  in  the  preparation  of  so  many 
ill-digested  papers,  that  there  is  danger  that  they  will 
never  gain  the  ability  to  master,  or  exhaust  the  possibili- 
ties of  a  page.  The  work  with  selections  is  a  help  to 
thorough  reading.  *'Beware  of  the  man  of  one  book," 
says  a  proverb,  and  like  most  proverbs  this  expresses 
a  great  half  truth.  The  man  of  one  book  is  likely  to  be 
narrow  and  to  overlook  the  possibilities  of  the  opposition; 
but  his  complete  mastery  of  one  view  of  a  subject  makes 
him  a  dangerous  antagonist  for  the  man  of  vague  ideas 
and  information.  The  speaker  should  read  rather  widely 
that  he  may  know  all  sides  of  his  question,  and  thus  be  hon- 
est with  himself  and  his  audience,  and  also  know  what 
to  expect  from  the  opposition;  but  he  should  "chew  and 
digest"  some  of  the  best  works  on  his  subject. 

Taking  Notes.  At  times  one  may  read  just  to  soak 
himself  full  of  a  subject,  and  wish  few  notes;  but  most 
often  he  wastes  time  if  he  does  not  pin  down  what  he 
reads.  The  ideas  which  seem  perfectly  clear  as  he  reads, 
grow  hazy  and  slip  from  memory;  the  facts  which  he 
is  sure  he  can  remember  or  turn  to  when  he  needs  them, 
quite  elude  him.  He  may  wish  to  use  them  a  long  time 
after  his  reading. 

Some  may  prefer  to  read  a  book  through  before  taking 
notes;  others  to  take  notes  as  they  read.  A  good  method 
is  merely  to  jot  down  on  a  sUp  (Do  not  mark  the  book 


422  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

unless  it  is  your  own !)  the  pages  on  which  useful  matter 
is  to  be  found,  and  then  make  complete  notes  after  finish- 
ing the  book.  As  for  the  manner  of  taking  notes,  the 
following  suggestions  are  offered,  in  addition  to  what  was 
said  in  Chapter  IV: 

1.  Use  cards  of  uniform  size,  the  size  you  determine 
is  best  for  your  card  index. 

2.  Place  on  a  card  matter  relating  to  one  sub- topic  only. 

3.  Quote  from  the  original  source,  if  possible. 

4.  Always  make  an  exact  reference  to  the  source  at  the 
time  you  make  a  note.  You  may  wish  to  state  this  in 
answer  to  a  challenge,  or  to  return  to  the  book  for  verifica- 
tion or  additions. 

5.  **Quote  exactly,  and  use  quotation  marks. "^ 

6.  "Indicate  omissions  by  means  of  dots,  thus     .     .     .'* 

7.  "When  you  supply  your  own  words  inside  a  quota- 
tion, inclose  them  in  brackets  [thus]." 

8.  "Indicate  at  the  top  of  each  card  the  main  subject 
or  issue  to  which  the  evidence  relates,  and  the  sub-topic." 

This  card  will  serve  to  illustrate : 


PERSUASION  THEORY 


James,  Psychology:    Briefer  Course^  p.  452: 

"We  thus  find  that  [ItaHcs  J's]  we  reach  the 
heart  of  our  inquiry  into  volition  when  we 
ask  by  what  process  .  ...  the  thought 
of  any  given  action  comes  to  prevail  stably 
in  the  mind.'* 


^1  am  drawing  freely  here  from  Foster's  Argumentation  and  Debate, 
p.  78. 


ORIGINALITY  423 

Do  not  imagine  that  these  suggestions  are  intended 
to  make  extra  work.  If  I  had  followed  for  the  past 
twenty  years  the  advice  I  am  giving,  I  should  have  saved 
myself  much  waste  of  time  and  labor. 

As  a  final  suggestion  on  reading :  Do  not  suppose  that 
a  speaker  should  depend  entirely  upon  special  reading 
for  a  given  speech.  Phillips  Brooks  said  to  the  Yale 
divinity  students '} 

"One  preacher  depends  for  his  sermon  on  special 
reading.  Each  discourse  is  the  result  of  work  done  in 
theweekin  which  it  is  written.  .  .  .  Another  preacher 
studies  and  thinks  with  far  more  industry,  is  always 
gathering  truth  into  his  mind,  but  it  is  not  gathered 
with  reference  to  the  next  sermon.  It  is  truth  for  truth's 
sake,  and  for  that  largeness  and  ripeness  and  fulness  of 
character  which  alone  can  make  him  a  strong  preacher. 
Which  is  the  better  method.'^  The  latter,  beyond  all 
doubt.  In  the  first  place,  the  man  of  special  preparation 
is  always  crude;  he  is  always  tempted  to  take  up  some 
half  considered  thought  that  strikes  him  in  the  hurry  of 
his  reading,  and  adopt  it  suddenly,  and  set  it  before  his 
people,  as  if  it  were  his  true  conviction.  Many  a  minis- 
ter's old  sermons  are  scattered  all  over  with  ideas  which 
he  never  held,  but  which  held  him  for  a  week." 

This  quotation  bears,  also,  upon  our  next  topic. 

Originality.  It  is  proper  to  follow  a  discussion  of  the 
sources  of  material  with  some  consideration  of  originality. 
The  speaker  upon  the  platform  is  understood  to  be  giving 
an  original  speech,  unless  a  statement  is  made  to  the 
contrary.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  term  original 
as  here  used?  No  very  definite  answer  can  be  given; 
but  one  can  arrive  at  a  working  conception.  Baker 
speaks  of  "the  reaction  of  an  individual  mind  on  the 
material.""  That  may  serve  as  a  definition  of  originality. 
Essenwein  puts  the  matter  thus:^ 

^Lectures  on  Preaching,  p.  157.  '^Forms  of  Public  Discourse,  p.  xix. 
^How  to  Attract  and  Hold  an  Audience,  p.  51. 


424  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

"How  does  my  mind  work  when  it  receives  a  new  truth? 

*'Docs  it  enjoy  the  truth,  and  then  give  it  out  again 
unaltered,  exactly  or  substantially  in  the  same  words? 
That  is  (luotation,  if  credit  is  given  to  the  author;  other- 
wise it  is  literary  theft. 

"Does  my  mind  feel  stimulated,  upon  receiving  truth, 
to  produce  other  thoughts,  and  >'et  utter  the  received 
thought  without  change?     That  is  expansion. 

"Does  my  mind  not  only  receive  a  stimulus  from  new 
truth,  but  also  assimilate  it,  transform,  clarify,  and 
amplify  it,  so  that  in  uttering  that  truth  I  utter  it  stamped 
with  my  own  image  and  superscription?  That  is  origi- 
nality. 

"  .  .  An  original  thought  is  a  new  birth, — the  fruit  of  a 
union  of  truth  from  without  and  of  thought  from  within." 

Originality  may  consist  in  finding  a  new  phase  of  a  sub- 
ject, in  working  out  a  new  analysis,  or  a  new  viewpoint; 
or  in  applying  an  old  truth  to  a  new  situation.  Each  age 
must  adapt  old  knowledge,  the  product  of  earlier  ages' 
experience,  to  its  new,  or  seemingly  new,  circumstances, 
and  restate  it  in  terms  of  the  new  day.  "A  thought  is  his 
who  puts  new  youth  in  it,"  says  Lowell.  Certainly  we  do 
not  demand  an  absolutely  new  thought;  for,  as  has  been 
said,  one  absolutely  new  thought  to  a  century  is  a  high 
average.  It  is  enough  that  an  individual  has  really  reacted 
to  the  old  ideas.  That  is  a  high  degree  of  originality 
when  one  has  come  to  a  clear  realization  of  a  truth  as 
the  result  of  experience,  even  though  the  truth  was  in  his 
first  copybook.  "The  burnt  child"  has  an  original  idea  when 
he  first  learns  by  experience  that  fire  does  burn.  I  recall  a 
student  who  came  in  with  a  great  desire  to  write  on  Com- 
pensation, a  thought  which  had  come  to  him  from  a  cer- 
tain experience  and  which  he  supposed  really  new.  It 
was  honestly  origmal,  though  as  old  as  the  first  thinker. 

We  admit  a  degree  of  originality,  also,  in  one  who  gives 
an  old  idea  freshness  of  treatment  and  puts  it  in  a  superior 
way. 


ORIGINALITY  425 

i"For  we  call  a  thing  his  in  the  long  run. 
Who  utters  it  clearest  and  best." 

Negatively,  we  may  say  that  one  who  sits  down  to 
make  an  abstract  of  an  article  or  a  chapter,  taking  out 
topic  sentences  and  changing  a  few  words,  is  not  doing 
original  work.  Nor  is  he  though  he  does  not  use  a  single 
sentence  from  his  author,  so  long  as  he  adopts  the  author's 
ideas  and  standpoint.  To  paraphrase  may  be  a  very 
good  exercise  in  speech  training,  but  it  is  not  meeting  a 
requirement  for  an  original  speech.  The  case  is  somewhat 
more  hopeful  when  one  reads  two  authorities,  compares 
them  and  ^^Tites  a  speech  based  upon  both.  But  we 
camiot  establish  any  rule  for  originality  based  on  the 
number  of  works  read.  It  is  the  thinking,  assimilating 
and  reacting  that  count.  We  may  safely  say  that  if  one 
will  follow  out  the  directions  in  Chapter  IV,  in  regard 
to  the  stages  of  preparation,  he  will  be  fairly  original. 

It  would  be  hard  to  give  a  better  description  of  original  work,  when 
one  must  base  his  speech  upon  the  material  of  others,  than  this  quoted 
from  a  student  by  Professor  Baker  :2 

"In  working  up  both  riiy  forensics  this  year,  I  read  a  great  deal.  My 
mind  kept  in  a  perfect  boil  all  the  time,  and  after  each  book  or  article 
I  seemed  to  have  a  different  conformation  of  ideas.  Ideas  of  my  own 
that  I  had  started  out  with  were  totally  or  almost  entirely  changed  in 
the  end.  Nor  had  I  apparently  changed  them  for  those  of  anyone  else. 
They  were  not  on  the  other  hand  original  [?].  I  am  sure  some  one  had 
thought  of  every  one  before.  In  fact,  they  had  flashed  through  my  own 
mind  in  a  vague  way  at  different  times  in  my  life.  ...  I  had  taken 
the  ideas  of  other  men  and  moulded  mine  by  them.  My  applica- 
tion was  often  very  different  from  the  application  of  the  authors  them- 
selves, yet  I  had  used  them  and  owed  them  something." 

There  is  a  moral  aspect  to  this  question  of  originality, 

which    seems    to    demand    attention.     One    sometimes 

finds  astonishing  views  prevailing.     A  student  took  an 

oration,  transposed  some  sentences,  struck  out  here  and 

there  a  clause,  presented  it  as  an  original  speech  and  de- 

^Franciscus  de  Verulamio  sic  cogitavit.     Lowell's  Works.     Vol.  IV, 
p.  197. 
^Principles  of  Argumentation,  p.  387. 


426  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

fended  his  action.  I  recall  hearing  a  man  of  some  distinc- 
tion, in  an  address  to  arouse  martial  spirit  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Spanish- American  War,  declaim  eloquently, 
without  acknowledgment,  large  sections  from  a  speech 
by  Wendell  Phillips.  A  friend  of  mine  holds  in  his  hands 
proof  that  a  certain  college  president  preached  a  bacca- 
laureate sermon  taken  largely  from  the  printed  sermons 
of  another  college  president.  Does  not  the  moral  sense 
of  mankind  condemn  such  practices?  The  natural 
anxiety  of  the  friends  of  the  college  president  mentioned 
that  the  proofs  of  his  plagiarism  shall  not  be  made  public, 
indicates  that  there  is  a  moral  obligation  upon  a  speaker 
to  be  original  in  some  fair  sense  of  the  word. 

On  the  low  ground  of  expediency,  plagiarism  is  inadvis- 
able. There  were  at  least  two  persons  who  heard  the 
speaker  declaiming  from  Wendell  Phillips  who  were  able 
to  "give  him  away."  A  visiting  preacher  in  an  Ithaca 
pulpit  assumed  that  no  one  read  printed  sermons;  but 
one  little  woman  did,  and  she  forced  him  to  a  humili- 
ating confession. 

I  find  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  standard  of  origi- 
nality is  lower  for  speakers  than  for  writers.  We  must, 
of  course,  consider  in  a  given  case  what  is  understood  by 
the  audience:  there  may  be  times  when  a  speaker  is 
understood  to  be  but  a  mouthpiece.  He  has  been  sent 
to  represent  another  person  or  an  institution.  Again, 
speakers  under  certain  circumstances  will  be  understood 
to  have  used  certain  authorities. 

A  speaker  should  be  quick  to  acknowledge  his  indebted- 
ness, when  acknowledgment  is  due.  He  will  not  lose 
by  so  doing,  but  gain  in  the  respect  of  his  audience. 
When  acknowledgment  is  due  cannot  be  laid  down  defi- 
nitely; but  the  honest  man  vdW  make  sure  he  goes  far 
enough  in  this  direction.  One  is  not  boimd  to  give 
credit  for  ideas  taken  from  the  great  common  stock,  even 


ORIGINALITY  427 

though  he  knows  that  a  certain  writer  has  expressed  them, 
unless  he  is  borrowing  that  writer's  form.  For  example, 
I  was  told  the  other  day  that  the  suggestion  made  in 
Chapter  XI,  in  regard  to  tact  in  giving  information  the 
audience  should  possess,  had  been  made  by  Poor  Richard. 
Possibly  I  got  it  from  him;  but  I  feel  no  obligation  to 
give  credit  for  such  a  commonplace,  though  I  might  wish 
to  cite  so  strong  an  authority  as  Benjamin  Franklin. 

There  is  no  use  in  trying  to  lay  down  rules  about  origi- 
nality. The  unscrupulous  man  will  cheat  any  rules 
on  such  a  subject.  The  honest  man  will  keep  himself 
from  fraud  when  he  realizes  what  honesty  demands;  and 
he  can  best  do  it  by  thorough  mastery  of  facts  and  gen- 
uine thinking.  I  trust  that  no  student  who  has  studied 
this  text  will  ask,  as  did  one  who  was  criticised  for  merely 
boiling  down  an  editorial,  "What  more  can  one  do.'^" 


CHAPTER  XVI 

EXTEMPORANEOUS     OR     WRITTEN PLANS     AND     OUTLINES 

Shall  the  speech  be  WTitten  or  extemporaneous?  This 
is  a  question  which  causes  much  argument,  in  which  it 
seems  to  be  assumed  that  one  way  must  be  right  on  all 
occasions  and  for  all  persons,  and  to  be  forgotten  that  the 
question  is,  not  written  or  extemporized,  but  good  or 
bad,  and  good  or  bad  under  the  circumstances. 

The  question  is  not  one  to  be  answered  categorically. 
Much  depends  upon  the  speaker,  the  nature  of  the  speech, 
and  the  occasion.  Each  method  of  speaking  has  its 
merits  and  defects,  its  uses  and  abuses.  As  regards  the 
conversational  elements  of  delivery,  these  methods  were 
considered  in  Chapter  I.  I  hold  that  the  well  equipped 
speaker  should  be  able  to  speak  by  every  method,  and 
should  practice  all,  especially  as  a  learner. 

The  Extemporaneous  Speech.  By  the  term  extempo- 
raneous  we  have  come  to  describe,  not  a  speech  %\T[thout 
preparation  (that  we  call  impromptu),  but  a  speech  which 
is  not  written  out  in  full.  This  is  the  most  popular 
method,  and  sometimes  it  is  the  only  method  feasible. 
Its  peculiar  merit  is  its^greater^adajitability  to  a  situation^ 
There  are  times  when,  though  the  speaker  can  arm  himself 
with  facts  and  lines  of  argument  for  all  probable  emergen- 
cies, he  cannot  tell  in  advance  what  will  be  needed. 
There  is,  indeed,  on  almost  any  occasion,  an  advan- 
tage in  being  able  to  adapt  one's  discourse  to  the  vary- 
ing condition  of  one's  auditors.  The  extemporaneous 
speaker  can,  also,  profit  more  from  the  inspiration  of 
occasion  and  audience  than  can  one  who  has  written  his 
speech. 

428 


EXTEMPORANEOUS  OR  WRITTEN  429 

The  defects  of  extemporaneous  speaking  are  thus 
stated  by  Beecher/  who  believed  it  best  for  most  occasions: 
"The  temptation  to  slovenhness  in  workmanship,  to  care- 
less and  inaccurate  statement,  to  repetition,  to  viola- 
tion of  good  taste."  The  tendency  to  slovenliness  is 
very  marked.  The  extemporizer  is  likely  to  seize  the 
first  word  that  comes  to  mind,  whether  it  is  just  the  right 
word  to  express  his  meaning  or  not.  He  tends  to  use  one 
word  instead  of  its  synonyms,  which  would  more  exactly 
express  shades  of  meaning.  Then,  feeling  that  he  has 
not  exactly  expressed  his  idea,  he  goes  on  repeating  in 
many  words  and  becomes  verbose.  Often  he  sits  down 
with  the  consciousness  that  he  has  not  said  just  what  he 
meant.  Again,  he  may  quite  forget  to  say  what  he 
washes  most  to  say.  Afterward  he  has  the  humiliation 
of  remembering  this,  or  of  learning  from  others  that  he 
has  been  misunderstood  because  of  careless  statements 
or  omissions. 

Most  troublesome  to  the  extemporizer,  perhaps,  are 
the  rash,  unconsidered,  or  silly  ideas  that  pop  into  the 
mind  and  out  of  the  mouth.  These  may  come  to  us  in 
our  thinking  at  any  time,  but  when  we  compose  deliber- 
ately we  weed  them  out.  They  may  be  no  worse  than 
inane  or  a  clog  to  the  thought,  or  they  may  be  damaging. 
Wise  and  friendly  reporters  may  leave  them  out;  but  the 
mischief  may  be  done.  Opponents  may  snap  them  up 
and  publish  them  far  and  wide, — ^whether  far  and  wide 
refers  to  a  village,  a  state,  a  nation,  or  the  world.  These 
statements  may  be  inspired  by  the  occasion  (for  inspira- 
tion is  of  divers  kinds),  by  the  conduct  of  opponents 
or  the  enthusiasm  of  friends.  Strong  statements  made 
at  night  when  one  is  surrounded  by  sympathetic  friends, 
perhaps    breathing  forth   "threatenings   and    slaughter" 

^Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching,  1st  Series,  p.  216. 


430  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

against  the  opposition,  and  showering  compHments  upon 
the  speaker,  sound  very  different  when  read  from  the 
morning  paper. 

Presidents  do  not  deUver  extemporaneously  their 
inaugural  addresses.  The  public  is  watching  too  criti- 
cally for  the  smallest  hints  of  policy.  President  Wilson 
has  probably  dared  more  than  any  other  president  in 
the  way  of  extemporaneous  address;  but  he  is  said  to 
regret  his  inability  to  memorize  a  speech.  INIen  who 
occupy  prominent  positions  protect  themselves  when 
making  important  speeches,  by  >;\Titing  out  their  remarks 
and  giving  copies  to  the  press,  and  then  reading  from  the 
manuscript,  or  speaking  from  memory.  Not  many 
of  us  will  be  inaugurated  as  presidents,  or  even  as  gover- 
nors; but  we  shall  have  occasions  when  we  wish  to  weigh 
our  words,  and  take  no  chance  either  of  ill-considered 
statements  or  of  confusion  or  omissions.  Or  we  may 
have  to  speak  on  subjects  too  intricate  to  csirry  in  memory. 
There  are  times,  then,  when  it  is  advisable  to  ^\Tite  one's 
speech,  even  if  one  is  able  to  extemporize  well. 

The  Written  Speech.  The  written  speech  permits 
a  care  in  regard  to  phraseology  and  a  certainty  of  saying 
precisely  what  one  \\ashes  to  say,  that  are  impossible  to 
one  extemporizing.  These  advantages  are  so  important 
that  speeches  are  written  more  often  than  is  believed  by 
the  inexperienced.  On  important  occasions  speakers  will 
always  be  likely  to  use  the  writing  method,  when  it  is 
possible.  The  objections  to  it  can  be  overcome  in  part 
by  careful  preliminary  study  of  the  probable  audience 
and  situation;  by  \\Titing  always  with  these  in  mind, 
perhaps  talking  to  this  audience  in  imagination  before 
\NTiting,  and  by  training  one's  self  on  the  lines  indicated 
in  Chapter  I.  In  addition  it  may  be  said  that  whatever 
one  memorizes,  he  should  niemQiiza^thgroughl^  With 
a  speech  poorly  memorized,  one  has  neither  the  freedom 


EXTEMPORANEOUS  OR  WRITTEN  431 

of  the  extemporizer  nor  the  sureness  of  the  "^Titer.  His 
mind  is  taken  up  w^th  the  anxious  strain  of  remembering. 
But  with  perfect  memorization,  he  can,  if  he  will  hold 
himself  to  his  work,  realize  fully  the  import  of  his  words 
and  come  into  close  touch  \\'ith  his  audience. 

When  on^  wishes  to  deliver  a  "^Titten  speech,  and  lacks 
time  or  ability  for  memorizing,  or  dares  not  trust  to 
memorj^  he  must  read  his  speech.  Many  college  lec- 
turers, who  deliver  several  long  lectures  in  a  week,  find 
this  the  only  practicable  method.  The  objection  to  this 
method  can  be  overcome  to  a  great  extent  by  preparing 
as  suggested  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  by  gaining  great 
familiarity  \\'ith  the  manuscript,  and  by  making  a  deter- 
mined attempt  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  audience. 
The  reader  is  likely  to  proceed  much  too  fast,  and  to  do 
very  little  thinking.  He  should  speak  very  slowly, 
and  especially  should  pause  deliberately  while  getting  each 
new  statement  in  mind,  and  then  deliver  it  as  directly 
as  possible  to  his  hearers. 

Very^  often  speakers  combine  the  methods  of  committing 
to  memory  and  of  extemporizing.  Certain  passages 
which  are  particularly  difficult  or  important,  as  a  candi- 
date's statements  of  policy,  or  his  pledges,  are  fixed  in 
memory;  and  also  passages  in  which  particularly  good 
expression  is  desired.  The  method  decreases  somewhat 
one's  freedom,  for  he  must  lead  up  to  these  passages, 
and  sometimes  a  poor  effect  is  produced  by  the  contrast 
between  them  and  the  extemporaneous  parts.  There  may 
be  lack  of  harmony  in  tone  or  in  style. 

I  recall  hearing  Mr.  Beveridge,  then  Senator  from  Indiana,  deHver 
a  really  great  speech  before  ten  thousand  people  in  the  Coliseum  in 
San  Francisco.  While  he  spoke  on  his  favorite  theme.  Imperial- 
ism, he  was  fluent  and  his  diction  was  superb;  but  when  he  felt  con- 
strained to  refer  to  California  politics  and  candidates  the  contrast  was 
painful. 


432  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

"But,"  as  Brander  Matthews  says,^  "there  is  no  denying 
the  popularity  of  this  third  method  with  the  speakers 
of  the  first  rank,  at  whose  hands  its  possibihties  have  been 
adroitly  improved.  John  Bright  used  to  write  out 
certain  parts  of  his  more  important  speeches.  So  did 
Mr.  Gladstone.  Daniel  Webster,  a  far  greater  orator 
than  either  of  them,  had  stored  his  capacious  memory 
with  arguments  that  might  lie  there  for  years  ready  for 
his  use.  The  Reply  to  Hayne  was  not  written  out  before 
delivery,  either  as  a  whole  or  in  part,  but  it  certainly 
contained  more  than  one  mighty  passage  the  wording  of 
which  had  been  elaborately  prepared  against  the  long- 
waited  occasion." 

The  political  speaker,  the  agitator,  or  any  one  who  car- 
ries on  a  long  campaign  of  speaking,  is  likely  ixy  use  this 
mixed  method;  as  one  who  travels  with  them  finds  to 
his  weariness.  They  usually  say  something  new  in  each 
speech,  both  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  particular  audi- 
ence, and  to  furnish  the  papers  something  new  to  report; 
but  the  bulk  of  their  speech  will  be  repeated  time  after 
time.  Or,  they  may  have  an  adjustable  speech,  a  sort 
of  handy  set  of  parts,  that  can  be  fitted  together  in  var- 
ious ways,  not  all  the  pieces  being  used  each  time.  Of 
course,  such  speakers  often  do  extemporize  in  a  measure, 
having  talked  through  their  subjects  so  many  times  and 
ways  that  they  are  sure  of  finding  a  familiar  trail  wherever 
they  go.  And  they  often  ramble  and  mix  things  up  sadly 
when  they  thus  trust  to  luck. 

When  one  proposes  to  use  this  method  of  linking  mem- 
orized passages  together  wdth  extemporized  parts,  he 
should  try  to  key  his  prepared  passages  to  his  probable 
occasion.  Then  he  should  memorize  them  thoroughly, 
in  order  that  he  may  relieve  himself  from  anxiety  about 
his  ability  to  take  them  up  when  he  pleases. 

^Notes  on  Speech-Making,  p.  32. 


EXTEMPORANEOUS  OR  WRITTEN  433 

How  Reduce  the  Defects  of  the  Extemporaneous 
Speech.  Since  the  extemporaneous  speech  has  great 
advantages  on  many  occasions,  we  should  consider  with 
care  how  its  defects  can  be  minimized.  As  one  of  the  chief 
defects  is  lack  of  discrimination  in  the  use  of  words,  the 
extemporaneous  speaker  should  take  much  care  in  this 
regard.  He  should  not  seize  upon  the  first  word  that 
comes,  but  should  dare  to  wait  for  the  right  one.  There 
are  few  more  effective  speakers  than  Elihu  Root.  His 
words  do  not  come  easily,  though  he  has  an  abundant 
vocabulary;  but  when  they  come  they  are  right,  and  are 
far  more  impressive  than  glibness. 

Again,  the  extemporaneous  speaker  should  write  much. 
This  is  urged  by  those  who  believe  most  strongly  in  the 
extemporaneous  speech.  Beecher  told  the  Yale  divinity 
students  that  they  should  write  about  one-third  of  their 
sermons.  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott^  emphasizes  the  "constant 
use  of  the  pen.  No  man  ought  to  trust  only  to  the  voice 
as  a  means  of  expression.  If  he  does  not  write  sermons, 
he  ought  to  write  something  else,  and  write  vdih  care, 
with  dictionary  of  synonyms  before  him,  with  careful 
weighing  and  study  of  words  and  sentences,  wdth  careful 
rewriting,  elision  of  all  repetitions,  rewriting  of  sentences 
in  an  endeavor  to  improve  their  form,  their  clearness, 
their  compactness,  their  rhythm  and  cadence." 

For  many  years  I  conducted  a  class  in  extemporaneous  speaking. 
The  students  gained  fluency  and  self-possession,  but  it  was  a  constant 
effort  to  keep  them  from  degenerating  in  language,  from  growing  slip- 
shod in  choice  of  words,  in  orderliness  and  compactness.  At  the  same 
time  I  had  a  course  in  which  all  speeches  were  written  and  re-written. 
The  students  in  this  class  gained  in  knowledge  of  principles,  in  arrange- 
ment, and  in  the  use  of  words;  but  they  lacked  interest,  spontaneity 
and  touch  with  audiences.     Then  I  combined  the  two  courses  and  made 

^From  a  valuable  "Open  Letter,"  reprinted  from  the  Outlook,  in  the 
Appendix  of  Matthews'  Notes  on  Public  Speaking. 


434  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

a  course  much  better  than  either.     Eaqh  kind  of  work  tends  to  correct 
the  faults  of  the  other. 

The  student  of  speaking  should  take  very  seriously 
this  advice  to  write  much.  While  I  believe  that  he  is 
profited  by  delivering  extemporaneous  speeches  from 
the  very  beginning  of  his  work,  I  find  that  he  develops 
most  harmoniously  when  he  makes  speeches  in  many 
ways.  He  should  not  be  mislead  by  what  some  experi- 
enced speaker  does  or  seems  to  do;  but  should  remember 
that  he  is  a  learner.  Dr.  Abbott  says,  in  the  same 
"Open  Letter"  from  which  I  have  just  quoted,  that 
the  best  extemporaneous  speaking  requires  "years  of 
practice.  Do  not  expect  to  attain  by  any  school  method 
in  a  month  or  year  that  w^hich  your  elders  have  at- 
tained only  by  long  exercise  in  the  study  and  on  the 
platform." 

I  know  of  no  more  ardent  advocate  of  extemporaneous  speaking  than 
Dr.  Richard  S.  Storrs,  an  eminent  preacher  of  the  last  century,  who 
published  a  book  entitled,  Preaching  Without  Notes,  in  which  he  tells 
of  the  experience  which  led  him  to  his  belief.  During  twenty-five  years 
he  tried  every  method  of  preaching.  At  first  he  wrote  all  his  sermons. 
Then  he  spoke  from  very  full  notes.  Then  he  read  one  sermon  and 
preached  one  without  notes  on  the  same  Sunday.  Finally  he  abandoned 
all  aids  in  the  pulpit.  He  says  (p.  37) :  "I  wrote  for  many  years,  fully 
and  carefully.  I  now  write  only  a  brief  outline  of  the  discourse,  cover- 
ing usually  one  or  two  sheets  of  common  note-paper,  and  have  no  notes 
before  me  in  the  pulpit — not  a  line,  or  a  catch-word."  He  became  sure 
therefore  that  his  way  was  best. 

But  Dr.  Storrs  does  not  observe  at  all  how  important  Avere  those 
twenty-five  years  of  training  in  which  he  wrote  fully  and  carefully,  and 
how  gradually  he  approached  the  stage  in  which  he  was  an  accomplished 
extemporizer.  He  tells  us  that  for  thirteen  of  those  years  he  wrote 
also  as  editor  of  a  religious  journal.  He  also  served  exacting  congrega- 
tions. In  all  this  he  was  training  himself  in  logical  thinking  and  in 
orderly,  clear-cut  expression.  He  tells  us,  too,  that  his  first  notable 
success  without  writing  was  a  sermon  upon  a  subject  upon  which  he  had 
recently  written.  His  experience  is  most  suggestive;  more  suggestive, 
indeed,  than  he  realized. 


PLANS  AND  OUTLINES  435 

Besides  writing,  another  method  frequently  used  for 
checking  up  one's  self,  is  to  have  a  stenographer  take 
down  one's  speech  verbatim  and  present  it  without  any 
of  the  kindly  corrections  which  stenographers  commonly 
make.  Such  a  report  will  show  one  his  tendencies, 
whether  he  is  overusing  certain  expressions,  or  is  grow- 
ing verbose  and  slovenly. 

But  the  most  important  suggestion  for  eliminating  the 
faults  common  in  extemporaneous  address  is  thorough 
preparation.  You  will  not  find  among  the  men  who 
advocate  and  have  used  best  this  form  of  address,  those 
who  hold  that  it  is  a  method  of  escaping  labor,  except  the 
mere  labor  of  writing.  Dr.  Storrs  followed  his  advocacy 
of  extemporaneous  method  with  this: 

''Never  begin  to  preach  without  notes  with  any  idea  of 
saving  yourselves  ivork  by  it.  If  you  do  you  will  fail; 
and  you  will  richly  deserve  to  fail.  Any  suspicion  of 
this  among  your  people  will  destroy  your  hold  on  them. 
Your  own  minds  will  deteriorate;  and  your  sermons  will 
lose,  not  finish  only,  but  body  and  vigor." 

After  stating  the  essentials  of  a  good  extemporaneous 
speech,  Dr.  Abbott  says : 

"The  preparation  of  such  an  address  will  take  quite  as 
much  time  as  the  preparation  of  a  manuscript.  It  must 
be  more  thoroughly  prepared;  the  subject  must  be  more 
thoroughly  thought  out;  the  mind  must  be  familiar  with 
it  in  all  its  aspects." 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  this  is  true.  The  man  who  writes 
may  be  able  to  conceal  his  ignorance,  and  throw  false 
bridges  over  the  gaps  in  his  facts  and  reasonings ;  but  one 
who  attempts  to  follow  a  line  of  thought  extemporaneously, 
or  adapt  his  statements  to  the  circumstances  and  exigen- 
cies of  an  occasion,  must  have  a  clear  line  of  thought 
and  a  mastery  of  all  facts  that  may  be  needed. 

Importance  of  a  Plan.  A  plan  is  needed  in  order  that 
the  speaker  may  know  what  he  is  about  and  may  make 


436  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

sure  that  he  is  doing  what  he  wishes  to  do.  To  make  a 
plan  is  to  bring  into  order  his  knowledge  of  his  situation, 
to  determine  with  precision  what  he  will  attempt,  to 
take  stock  of  his  means  and  to  prepare  for  their  most 
efficient  use.  For  the  speaker  who  proposes  to  speak 
extemporaneously,  a  careful  plan  is  necessary  to  prevent 
the  rambling,  verboseness,  and  the  failure  to  say  what 
is  intended,  that  we  have  just  commented  on.  One 
who  is  to  write  a  speech  needs  the  plan  hardly  less,  for 
he  too  ^A-ill  ramble  if,  instead  of  following  a  clearly  marked 
out  path,  he  merely  WTites  as  one  thing  suggests  another. 

But  the  speaker  must  consider  much  more  than  what  he 
washes  to  say.  He  must  consider  his  audience,  and  how 
he  can  adapt  what  he  wishes  to  say  to  them,  in  order  that 
he  may  inform,  or  convince,  or  persuade  them.  Every 
problem  that  we  have  considered  in  the  preceding  chapters, 
in  regard  to  the  adaptation  of  speeches  to  hearers,  is  a 
reason  for  planning.  You  wdll  recall  what  Beecher  said 
of  his  ineffective  preaching  before  he  began  deliberately 
to  aim  his  sermons  at  his  congregation.  And  Dr.  Abbott, 
Beecher's  successor  in  Plymouth  Church,  has  this  to  say 
of  the  steps  of  special  preparation  •} 

'*!.  What  is  the  object  of  this  speech.'*  What  end  is  it 
to  serve .f^  What  verdict  is  it  to  win?  What  result  is  it 
to  accomplish.'^  2.  Central  thought.  What  thought 
lodged  in  the  mind  of  an  auditor  will  best  accomplish  the 
desired  result.^  3.  Analysis  of  this  central  thought  into 
three  or  four  propositions,  the  enforcement  and  illustra- 
tion of  which  will  serve  to  fasten  in  the  minds  of  the  hear- 
ers, the  central  thought,  and  so  to  secure  the  desired  result. 
4.  Some  illustrations  or  concrete  statements  of  each  one 
of  these  separate  propositions." 

The  man  who  objects  to  making  a  plan  for  a  speech 
would  object  to  making  a  plan  for  a  house.     It  is  true 

iFrom  the  "Open  Letter"  reprinted  in  Matthew's  Notes  on  Speech- 
Making,  p.  90. 


PLANS  AND  OUTLINES  437 

that  one  might  build  a  very  dehghtful  house  without  a 
plan;  but  the  chances  are  that  he  would  waste  much 
money  in  buying  his  material,  and  in  making  the  changes 
necessitated  by  the  fact  that  the  chimney  cut  off  the  stair- 
way and  that  the  bath  room  could  be  reached  only  through 
the  kitchen.  And  when  he  was  done  he  would  be  likely 
to  find  that  his  work  of  genius  had  neither  form  nor 
utility.  It  may  be  very  delightful  to  start  from  one's 
hotel  in  a  strange  city  and  walk  to  the  station,  with  only 
the  general  notion  that  it  is  "over  that  way."  One  may 
have  a  fine  time  watching  the  crowd  and  looking  in  at  the 
shop  windows,  he  may  meet  an  old  friend;  but  at  train 
time  he  may  be  far  from  the  station. 

It  may  be  delightful  to  hear  an  old  man  whose  life 
has  been  rich  in  experiences,  ramble  about  as  his  memory 
leads.  He  is  sure  to  enjoy  it;  but  unless  he  is  an  unusual 
old  man,  his  hearers  will  be  bored.  The  analogies  are 
not  complete;  for  in  speech-making  we  must  take 
account  of  our  hearers.  They  do  not  care  to  hear  many 
of  us  ramble;  they  wash  us  to  accomplish  something  in  a 
short  time  and  have  done  wdth  it;  and  we  must  consider 
how  we  can  best  carry  out  our  purpose  in  the  time 
allowed.  This  should  be  too  clear  for  argument  for  any 
one  who  realizes  that  public  speaking  should  be,  not 
merely  talking,  but  talking  effectively;  and  further  that 
most  public  speaking  is  ineffective. 

Making  the  Plan.  The  suggestions  which  will  help 
one  in  making  a  speech  can  be  drawn  from  the  preceding 
chapters,  especially  from  Chapters  IV,  X,  XII,  XIII. 
The  more  important  of  these  suggestions  can  be  arranged 
in  a  chart.  To  enumerate  them  all  here  would  require 
a  review  of  the  whole  subject.  It  would  be  good  practice 
to  write  out  the  answers  to  these  questions  with  reference 
to  several  speeches,  until  one  forms  a  habit  of  proceeding 
systematically. 


438  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Speaker's  Chart 

1.  What  is  my  purpose?  (E.g.  I  wish  to  persuade  my 
hearers  to  vote,  etc.) 

2.  What  is  the  principal  means  to  use  in  accomplishing 
this  purpose?  (E.g.  an  argument  that  we  should  have  a 
"tariff  for  revenue  only.") 

3.  By  what  facts  and  ideas  shall  I  support  this  means? 

4.  What  are  the  characteristics  of  my  probable  audi- 
ence? 

5.  Is  my  audience  interested  in  this  subject?  From 
what  existing  interest  of  theirs  can  I  derive  an  interest 
in  the  subject?  Or,  how  can  we  get  on  a  common  ground 
of  interest? 

6.  What  is  the  state  of  their  information  on  this  sub- 
ject?    What  must  I  explain? 

7.  Are  my  ideas  novel  or  familiar  to  my  hearers? 
If  novel,  how  can  I  interpret  them  in  terms  of  their 
experience  ?  With  what  can  I  compare  them  ?  If  familiar, 
how  can  I  give  them  freshness  of  treatment? 

8.  How  can  I  give  concreteness  to  my  ideas?  How 
can  I  utilize  the  imagination  of  my  audience?  What 
illustrations  will  be  effective? 

9.  By  what  varied  means  of  presentation  can  I  keep 
my  chief  idea  before  their  minds  until  they  are  impressed? 

10.  Will  a  chart  or  a  map  be  of  service? 

11.  Do  my  hearers  believe  the  conduct  I  urge  is  good; 
or  must  they  be  convinced?  Do  they  believe  the  means 
I  urge  is  good? 

12.  Why  have  they  not  followed  the  course  urged? 
Inertia?     Habit?     Other  motives  stronger  than  those  that 


PLANS  AND  OUTLINES  439 

have  been  urged?     What  motives  are  stronger  yet  with 
them? 

13.  Will  they  bear  a  straight  out  exhortation?  May  I 
appeal  directly  to  emotion;  or  must  I  stir  it  through  the 
imagination? 

14.  Will  it  be  wise  to  reiterate  accepted  arguments 
and  known  facts? 

15.  Can  I  utilize  the  force  of  suggestion,  direct  or 
indirect? 

16.  Can  I  bring  them  into  unity  of  feeling? 

17.  Can  I  use  their  instinct  for  imitation? 

18.  If  conviction  is  lacking,  is  this  audience  willing 
to  be  convinced? 

19.  How  can  I  make  them  willing  to  believe? 

20.  What  fixed  beliefs  or  prejudices  stand  in  my  way? 

21.  Can  I  identify  my  belief  with  their  fixed  beliefs? 

22.  Can  I  identify  this  conduct  with  their  customarj^ 
modes  of  action? 

23.  Can  I  meet  them  on  some  common  ground  of  belief? 

24.  Can  I  by  explanations,  eliminations  of  irrelevant 
matter,  or  concessions,  remove  any  of  their  objections? 

25.  Must  I  proceed  in  this  case  step  by  step,  or  can  I 
take  advanced  ground  at  once? 

26.  Is  my  audience  well  informed? 

27.  Is  my  audience  slow  of  thought? 

28.  Is  my  audience  conservative,  or  radical? 

29.  Can    I    use    precedent    effectively?     Authorities? 

30.  Can  I  do  anything  to  give  this  audience  confidence 
in  me?     Or  to  get  on  good  terms  with  them? 


440  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

The  Outline.  All  the  work  of  preparation,  as  indicated 
in  various  chapters,  and  especially  in  the  discussion  of  the 
three  stages  of  preparation  in  Chapter  IV,  in  the  discus- 
sion of  reading  in  Chapter  XV,  and  in  this  Speaker's 
Chart,  should  be  crystallized  in  an  outline,  or  sketch  of 
the  speech  in  brief  form,  before  the  speaker  writes  it  in 
full,  or  delivers  it  extemporaneously.  It  is  the  outline 
which,  above  all  other  devices,  enables  one  to  deliver  a 
speech  which  has  due  proportion,  emphasis,  unity  and 
coherence,  to  proceed  in  an  orderly  way  to  the  goal, 
to  make  sure  of  saying  what  one  wishes  to  say,  of  support- 
ing one's  claims,  and  of  finishing  on  time.  The  outline 
is  the  best  means  of  testing  one's  preparation.  It  should 
reveal  what  the  speaker  proposes  to  do,  and  how  each 
part  is  related  to  the  central  aim.  It  reveals  flaws  in 
arguments  and  defects  in  information,  and  indicates 
the  progress  of  the  thought  from  beginning  to  end.  It 
is  in  the  outline  that  the  experimenting  and  rearranging 
should  be  done. 

Objections  to  Outlines  Considered.  Certain  objec- 
tions are  so  commonly  made  by  students  to  the  prepara- 
tion of  outlines,  that  it  is  useless  to  ignore  them.  "It 
hampers  me  and  destroys  ease,"  says  one.  Let  us  admit 
that  an  outline  may  decrease  freedom.  In  the  first 
place,  let  us  remember  we  are  learners;  and  learning  new 
methods,  no  matter  how  much  better  than  the  old, 
usually  does  for  the  time  decrease  ease.  The  objection 
is  simply  the  old  objection  to  all  kinds  of  training. 
Secondly,  there  are  some  things  better  than  ease  and 
freedom.  Orderly  progress  of  thought  is  better,  clearness 
is  better,  unity  is  better;  and  it  is  much  better  to  sit 
down  knowing  that  you  have  said  what  you  meant  to 
say,  not  some  ill-considered  thing.  We  have  far  too 
many  speeches  which  remind  one  of  the  saying,  "We 
don't  know  where  we  are  going,  but  we  are  on  our  way.'* 


PLANS  AND  OUTLINES  441 

Thirdly,  do  not  let  the  outline  hamper  you  unduly. 
We  sometimes  read  of  the  speaker,  who,  after  an  agony 
of  laborious  preparation,  goes  upon  the  platform,  throws 
away  his  outline  or  his  speech,  and  has  a  great  impromptu 
success.  Such  a  man  is  just  the  one  to  make  an  im- 
promptu success  because  of  that  very  preparation  which 
he  thinks,  quite  mistiakenly,  he  has  abandoned.  It  has 
given  him  facts,  cleared  his  mind,  awakened  his  emotions 
and  fitted  him  to  receive  that  inspiration  which  helps 
those  who  help  themselves.  If  a  speaker  will  make  a 
genuine  preparation  and  a  clear-cut  outline,  let  him 
abandon  it  on  the  platform;  provided,  he  is  sure  that 
under  the  circumstances  he  can  do  better.  Generally 
it  is  best  co  stick  to  what  one  has  deliberately  decided  it 
is  wise  to  say.  To  abandon  it  is  always  a  risk;  but  it  is 
far  less  of  a  risk  for  the  man  who  has  made  definite  prep- 
aration than  for  one  who  is  trusting  to  luck.  As  for  the 
one  who  writes  his  speech,  he  should  change  his  outline 
whenever  he  finds  a  surely  better  order. 

And,  finally  as  to  ease,  the  best  sort  of  ease  is  his  who 
in  extemporizing  knows  that  he  has  a  clear  line  of  thought 
at  his  command;  or  who  in  writing  can  proceed  straight 
through  to  his  conclusion,  without  cutting  out  and 
patching  on,  as  the  man  who  writes  without  an  outline 
must  do,  if  he  is  not  content  with  ramblings.  It  is  the 
driver  with  a  sure  knowledge  of  his  route  who  can  pro- 
ceed with  ease  and  speed. 

To  the  objection  that  an  outline  destroys  the  beauty  of 
a  speech,  the  answer  is  that  it  is  true  only  when  it  is  too 
obtrusive,  when  not  properly  covered.  A  skeleton, 
some  one  has  observed  in  this  connection,  is  not  a  thing 
of  beauty,  "but  the  human  body  would  lack  its  beauty 
without  this  same  ugly  skeleton."  It  would  be  as  form- 
less as  a  jelly-fish.  The  outline  should  be  sufficiently 
in  evidence  to  help  the  hearer  to  grasp    easily  the  parts 


442  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

and  their  articulations.  I  quote  from  Phillips  Brooks 
with  much  pleasure,  because  he  was  a  great-hearted  man 
whose  preaching  was  remarkable  for  spontaneity  and 
enthusiasm  •} 

*'In  the  desire  to  make  a  sermon  seem  free  and  sponta- 
neous there  is  a  prevalent  dislike  to  giving  it  its  necessary 
formal  structure  and  organism.  The  statement  of  the 
subject,  the  division  into  heads,  the  recapitulation  at 
the  end,  all  the  scaffolding  and  anatomy  of  a  sermon 
is  out  of  favor,  and  there  are  many  good  jests  about  it. 
I  can  only  say  that  I  have  come  to  fear  it  less  and  less. 
The  escape  from  it  must  be  not  negative  but  positive. 
The  true  way  to  get  rid  of  the  bonyness  of  your  sermon 
is  not  by  leaving  out  the  skeleton,  but  by  clothing  it 
with  flesh.  True  liberty  in  writing  comes  by  law,  and 
the  more  thoroughly  the  outlines  of  your  work  are  laid 
out  the  more  freely  your  sermon  will  flow,  like  an  unwasted 
stream  between  its  well-built  banks.  I  think  that  most 
congregations  welcome,  and  are  not  offended  by  clear, 
precise  statements  of  the  course  which  a  sermon  is  going 
to  pursue,  carefully  marked  division  of  its  thoughts,  and 
above  all,  by  full  recapitulation  of  its  argument  at  the 
close.  .  .  .  Leave  to  the  ordinary  Sunday-school 
address  its  unquestioned  privilege  of  inconsequence  and 
incoherence." 

We  must  seek  the  happy  mean.  We  do  wish  ease  and 
spontaneity  and  individuality;  and  we  also  want  coherent 
thought.  As  the  quotation  just  above  indicates,  these 
can  readily  be  combined. 

"But  So  and  So  does  not  make  an  outline.  He  told 
me  just  before  he  spoke  that  he  did  not  know  what  he  was 
going  to  say."  Chesterton  tells  somewhere  of  a  gardener 
who  he^rd  his  master  declaiming,  "Mr.  Speaker,  had  I  for 
one  moment  thought  of  the  possibility  that  you  would 
call  upon  me  this  evening — "!  Chesterton  adds,  "It  takes 
a  long  time  to  prepare  an  impromptu."  But  So  and  So 
is   quite  above  deception?     Well,   he   may   have   meant 

^Lectures  on  Preaching,  p.  177. 


PLANS  AND  OUTLINES  44S 

that  he  had  no  written  outhne;  and  he  may  be  one  of 
those  clear-headed  persons  who  can  analyze  a  subject 
thoroughly  without  paper.  Perhaps  he  was  suffering 
from  nerves,  and  really  felt  that  he  had  lost  all  he  had 
planned  to  say.  Such  attacks  come  upon  old  speakers 
at  times.  Perhaps  the  situation  was  such  that  he  had 
to  wait  till  he  began,  to  decide  upon  one  of  several  lines 
of  thought  to  use;  and  in  that  sense  he  did  not  know 
what  he  would  say.  Perhaps  what  he  said  was  literally 
true,  and  perhaps  also  he  was  about  to  make  a  failure. 
Remember,  not  all  failures  are  set  down  as  such.  The 
speaker  gets  through  after  a  fashion,  perhaps  says  good 
things,  perhaps  gets  applause;  yet  does  not  accomplish 
his  purpose.  Perhaps,  after  all,  he  did  not  know  what 
he  would  say,  and  yet  he  did  have  a  real  success.  Then 
he  was  a  man  of  exceptional  ability  as  a  speaker,  or  had 
an  unusual  occasion,  or  imusual  luck.  He  probably  was 
a  man  of  experience,  and  had  been  thmking  and  speaking 
much  on  the  subject,  and  he  soon  hit  a  familiar  trail. 
But  why  should  a  less  experienced  speaker  think  that  he 
should  attempt  all  that  the  experienced  speaker  does; 
especially  w^hen  he  knows  that  most,  even  of  the  experi- 
enced speakers,  are  ineffective  much  of  the  time. 

But  if  one  really  knows  his  subject  thoroughly,  it  is 
said,  he  doesn't  need  an  outline.  That  is  a  large  "if"; 
but  if  one  really  knows  his  subjecL  thoroughly  and  sys- 
tematically he  is  in  much  better  case  than  one  of  half 
knowledge.  If  he  simply  has  a  lot  of  miscellaneous 
information  about  the  subject,  he  is  the  most  dangerous 
of  speakers  to  let  loose  without  an  outline.  He  will  have 
no  sense  of  relations  and  values,  and  he  will  try  to  tell 
all  he  knows  in  a  rambling  fashion.  The  man  of  real 
mastery  will  already  have  his  ideas  arranged  in  system- 
atic form.  Still,  as  he  must  usually  limit  his  scope, 
he  will   need  to  select  and  arrange  a  scheme.     Such  a 


444  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

man  is  just  the  one  who  is  most  likely  to  make  a  careful 
outline. 

Even  the  speaker  who  has  wide  knowledge  and  has 
spoken  much  on  his  theme,  often  shows  the  need  of  an 
outline.  Take,  for  example,  the  ordinary  agitator  for 
prohibition,  women's  suffrage,  or  socialism.  He  knows 
that  he  can  talk  freely  on  any  part  of  his  general  subject, 
and  he  is  likely  to  trust  to  luck.  He  knows  that  his 
partisans  will  applaud  anyhow.  And  he  moves  on  too 
rapidly  from  place  to  place  really  to  gauge  his  effective- 
ness. I  have  in  mind  a  speaker  for  socialism,  a  man  of 
courage,  intelligence,  and  more  than  average  training 
in  speaking;  yet  in  a  two-hour  address  he  talked  all  over 
the  subject  of  socialism,  not  sticking  to  any  phase  for 
five  minutes,  and  often  not  even  through  one  sentence. 
He  reduced  his  subject  to  a  state  best  compared  to  a  ball 
of  yarn  after  a  session  with  a  kitten. 

As  for  the  objection  that  making  an  outline  increases 
labor,  the  answer  is  that  this  is  not  true  for  one  who  wishes 
to  do  well.  It  saves  labor,  for  it  is  easier  to  work  certain 
defects  out  of  a  speech  in  the  outline  form  than  in  any 
other.  The  objection  is  prompted  by  laziness,  if  one  is 
to  be  brutally  honest  about  the  matter.  It  springs  from 
the  disinclination  of  the  human  animal  to  think.  It 
is  easier,  as  is  said,  to  write  a  speech  than  to  make  an  out- 
line,— easier,  that  is,  for  a  facile  pen,  or  a  glib  tongue  to 
run  off  five  hundred  or  a  thousand  words,  letting  the 
associational  process  guide.  But  that  is  not  thinking, 
and  not  the  process  by  which  one  proceeds  to  a  clearly 
conceived  goal  by  wisely  adapted  means.  It  is  easy  to 
talk  all  day  and  yet  say  nothing. 

The  Analysis.  Before  one  can  make  an  outline  of  any 
value,  he  must  have,  of  course,  an  analysis  of  his  subject. 
This  he  should  be  making  from  the  beginning  of  his  think- 
ing and  reading  on  his  topic.     When  a  speech  will  not 


PLANS  AND  OUTLINES  445 

come  out  right,  or  important  points  seem  to  have  no  place, 
or  an  argument  is  inconclusive,  or  an  explanation  inade- 
quate, the  trouble  is  probably  in  the  analysis.  To  analyze 
a  subject  is  to  resolve  it  into  its  parts  and  to  determine 
their  relations  to  the  whole  and  to  each  other;  or,  in 
terms  of  outlines,  to  determine  what  is  the  central  idea, 
what  are  the  main -heads  of  the  discussion,  what  are  their 
relations  to  the  central  idea  and  to  each  other,  and  what 
are  the  subordinate  and  supporting  ideas  for  each  main- 
head. 

As  was  pointed  out  in  Chapter  IV,  this  process  is  much 
facilitated  by  jotting  down  each  point  on  a  separate  card 
and  arranging  and  re-arranging  these  till  those  which 
are  most  closely  related  are  in  one  group.  Other  simple 
devices  prove  helpful.  If  you  are  dealing  with  an  evil, 
you  can  usually  arrange  your  material  by  this  scheme: 
This  is  the  evil;  this  is  the  remedy;  it  is  the  best  remedy; 
the  objections  to  it  are  not  sound.  To  illustrate:  The 
e^^l  is  starvation  wages  for  women  and  children  in  the 
textile  factories;  the  remedy  is  a  minimum  wage  law; 
there  is  no  other  remedy  so  good;  the  objections  are  not 
sound.  Or  one  may  say,  This  is  the  situation  we  must 
deal  with;  the  method  I  propose  will  produce  such  and 
such  happy  results;  the  opposite  course  vdW  produce 
bad  results.  Or  in  exposition.  This  is  the  problem  I 
have  to  explain  (say  a  gas  engine);  these  are  the  ele- 
ments which  must  be  treated,  (ignition,  stroke,  etc.); 
or,  again,  This  is  the  story  I  have  to  tell;  these  are 
the  main  episodes  into  which  it  is  divided.  These  simple 
devices  are  means  of  getting  one's  mental  machinery 
started,  of  getting  past  the  "dead  centre,"  so  to  speak, 
which  sometimes  stops  one  when  he  faces  a  mass  of 
material. 

The  different  persons,  or  classes,  or  interests  involved 
may  suggest  an  analysis.     Suppose  you  have  these  notes: 


446  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

Giving  tips.  Rapid  growth  in  the  United  States.  Patrons 
in  hotels  have  to  pay  annoying  fees.  Employees  take 
little  interest  in  work  which  brings  no  tips.  Tipping 
makes  pay  uncertain.  Tipping  decreases  the  self-respect 
of  employees.  This  matter  given  out  in  a  class  for  rapid 
outlining  has  produced  some  weird  arrangements;  yet 
with  the  clue  suggested  it  is  very  simple: 

Introduction 
The  rapid  growth  of  the  custom  of  tipping  in  this  country  has  caused 
an  agitation  for  its  abolition. 
Tipping  should  be  abolished. 

Discussion 
I.     Tipping  is  bad  for  patrons;  for 

1.     They  have  to  pay  annoying  fees  in  order  to  get  good 
service. 
II.     Tipping  is  bad  for  employers;  for 

1 .     Employees  take  little  interest  in  work  which  brings  no  tips. 
III.     Tipping  is  bad  for  employees;  for 

1.  It  makes  pay  uncertain. 

2.  It  decreases  self-respect. 

Conclusion 
Since  tipping  is  bad  for  patrons,  for  employers  and  for  employees,  it 
should  be  abolished. 

This  is  not  a  convincing  argument,  for  lack  of  sufficient 
data  and  arguments;  but  in  arrangement  it  is  clear  and 
logical.  Perhaps  you  can  arrange  it  in  a  better  way. 
Try  it.  "^ 

Qualities  of  the  Outline:  Clearness.  While  no  form 
of  outline  is  necessarily  best,  every  outline  should  have 
certain  qualities  and  characteristics.  x\nd  first,  it  should 
be  clear.  Let  the  standard  be,  not  merely  clear  to  your- 
self, but  clear  to  a  reader.  This  gives  a  critic  a  much 
better  chance  to  help  you.  And,  in  certain  respects, 
he  can  help  you  more  with  an  outline  than  with  a  complete 
speech;  for  he  can  judge  more  readily  its  unity,  coherence, 
order  and  logic.     Furthermore,  what  you  make  clear  to 


PLANS  AND  OUTLINES  447 

another  is  more  surely  clear  to  yourself.  We  often  find 
that  what  we  thought  we  had  clearly  in  mind  is  far  from 
clear  when  we  attempt  to  express  it.  To  the  end  of 
clearness  and  definiteness,  write  only  complete  sentences 
in  your  outline.  In  the  majority  of  cases,  one  who  has 
made  a  catch-word  outline  will  fail  to  answer  clearly 
questions  as  to  his  meaning.  The  complete  sentence, 
as  is  true  of  the  whole  outline  does  not  insure  clear  think- 
ing, but  it  does  make  clear  thinking  more  probable.  If 
one  will  try  to  make  every  statement  as  clear  and  specific 
as  possible,  his  grasp  will  surely  grow.  And  if  he  will  also 
try  to  put  as  much  as  possible  into  a  few  words,  he  will 
find  that  a  ver^^  complete  outline  for  a  ten-minute  speech 
will  go  on  a  single  page. 

Coherence.  The  outline  is  particularly  valuable  for 
securing  coherence,  and  coherence  should  be  its  major 
virtue.  The  outline,  first,  should  make  clear  what  the 
speaker  proposes  to  do,  and  then  it  should  reveal  how 
everv^  part  helps  to  that  end.  The  complete  sentences 
help  to  make  relations  clear;  and  each  statement  should 
be  phrased  with  reference  to  its  relations.  Then  the 
indentations  and  the  connective  words  are  important  to 
coherence.  In  the  introduction  should  stand  a  subject 
sentence,  which  embodies  the  central  thought  of  the 
speech.  Then  each  main-head  of  the  discussion  should 
reveal  its  relation  to  this  subject  sentence.  In  the  same 
way  each  sub-head  should  reveal  its  relation  to  its  main- 
head;  that  is,  it  should  by  its  wording  show  that  it  is  a 
proof,  or  an  explanation ,  or  a  development  of  its  main- 
head.  These  directions  suggest  convenient  tests  of  your 
outline:  1.  Is  the  central  idea  plainly  indicated.^  2.  Do 
the  main-heads  when  read  together  constitute  proof  or 
development  of  this  central  statement?  3.  Do  the  sub- 
heads support  the  headings  they  stand  under?  4  Does 
the  conclusion  plainly  follow  from  what  precedes? 


448  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

The  following  outline  illustrates  some  of  the  above  points.  The  sub- 
heads are  omitted. 

Introduction 
The  "no-treat"  system  a  former  custom  at  Cornell. 
Seems  to  have  been  forgotten. 

Discussion 

I.  Some  arguments  in  favor  of  not  treating. 

II.  Important  arguments  generally  overlooked. 

Conclusion 

Cornell  should  set  an  example  to  other  colleges. 

You  will  observe  that  there  is  no  subject  sentence,  no  statement  to 
prove,  although  this  is  evidently  intended  as  an  argument.  But  if  we 
supply  the  statement,  The  "no-treat"  system  should  be  made  permanent 
at  Cornell,  then  we  see  that  the  main-heads  do  not  support  the  assertion, 
do  not  reveal  any  analysis  of  the  question,  and  in  fact  are  waste  of  space. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  arguments  which  stood  under  either  one  might 
as  well  have  stood  under  the  other.  Do  not  use  omnibus  headings. 
They  must  at  best  be  so  vague  that,  when  they  are  proved,  little  has  been 
accomplished.  And  the  headings  in  the  above  outline,  not  being  state- 
ments, cannot  be  proved.  The  arguments  under  them  should  have  been 
related  directly  to  the  subject  sentence.  You  will  observe,  further,  that 
the  conclusion  is  rather  a  surprise  than  a  natural  outgrowth. 

Careful  attention  is  required  to  correlation  and  sub- 
ordination. It  is  important  to  recognize  whether  one 
is  making  statements  in  addition  to  those  already  made, 
or  in  support  of  them, — a  matter  much  neglected  in 
practice.  A  handy  test  of  correlation  is  to  join  the  parts 
wirtWfcii^  proper  connective  words  and  phrases.  If  one 
finds  that  the  true  connective  between  two  statements  is 
and,  hid,  yet,  or,  also,  again,  then  the  statements  are 
coordinate,  and  stand,  in  the  same  relation  to  the 
subject  sentence,  or  to  some  main-head.  One  cannot  be 
subordinate  to  the  other.  They  take  the  same  order 
of  numerals.  If  one  finds  that  the  relation  between  two 
statements  is  expressed  by  for,  since,  because,  then  the 
clause  governed  by  one  of  these  is  evidence  of  the  truth 
of  the  other  and  subordinate  to  it.  Or,  if  one  is  not 
arguing,  he  may  find  the  relations  expressed  by  such 
subordinating  'phrases  as  in  order  that,  to  enumerate, 
in  that,  to  explain,  to  illustrate.  It  is  best  to  write  in 
these  connective  words,  because  they  encourage  a  clear 


PLANS  AND  OUTLINES  449 

recognition  of  the  true  relations.  The  speaker  needs 
tests  for  his  work,  for  it  is  easy  to  deceive  one's  self  into 
the  belief  that  one  has  proved  or  made  clear  a  point, 
without  really  doing  so. 

Suggestions  Further  Illustrated.  I  wish  to  illustrate 
some  of  the  foregoing  suggestions  with  a  simple  outline. 
As  it  first  came  to  me  from  a  student  unskilled  in  speech- 
making,  it  was  of  the   Who-Which- What- Where  order: 

The  George  Junior  Republic 
What  it  is. 
Where  it  is. 
How  it  is  run. 

This  is  nearly  useless.  It  does  not  indicate  any  real 
analysis;  but  rather  the  kind  of  work  described  by  a 
student  who  said  of  his  outline,  "Oh,  I  just  put  down  a 
few  points  that  came  into  my  head."  No  introduction 
or  conclusion  is  indicated  and  no  point  of  view.  The 
maker  of  this  outline  knew  extremely  little  of  his  subject, 
and  had  no  sense  of  values.  He  put  the  incidental  point 
of  location  on  an  equality  mth  the  character  and  the 
management  of  the  institution.  What  he  would  say 
under  these  heads  was  very  vague  in  his  mind.  After 
some  criticism  and  further  study  of  the  subject,  the  out- 
line appeared  in  this  form: 

I.     The  George  Junior  Republic,  a  significant  institution.     One  of  the 

best  philanthropic  institutions  of  the  age. 
II.     "Nothing  without  labor." 

1.  Vagrancj  act. 

2.  Trades. 

III.  Form  of  government. 

1.  Like  U.  S. 

2.  Legislature,  judges,  police,  etc. 

IV.  Good  qualities  developed. 

1.  Equality. 

2.  Earnestness  and  honesty. 

V.     The  Republic  makes  a  lasting  impression. 


450  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

It  is  evident  that  the  speaker  is  progressing;  he  has 
more  ideas  and  some  definite  impressions.  But  we  do 
not  yet  know  what  the  leading  thought  is;  nor  are  we 
sure  that  he  has  any  clear  idea  of  his  subject  as  a  whole. 
There  is  no  consistent  point  of  view,  no  imity;  there  is 
a  lack  of  statements;  the  correlation  is  imperfect,  and  the 
main-heads  show  little  relation.  Under  I,  the  sub-head 
is  not  clearly  subordinate  to  its  heading.  Under  II,  we 
can  guess  at  the  relations.  Under  III,  2  seems  properly 
to  be  a  sub-head  rather  than  a  co-ordinate  of  1.  Under 
IV,  equality  is  improperly  classed  as  a  quality.  It  is 
not  in  the  same  category  as  earnestness  and  honesty. 
No  introduction  or  conclusion  is  marked  as  such;  but 
assuming  that  the  first  division  is  the  introduction,  it 
does    not  show  any  clear  relation  to  what  follows: 

Another  trial  produced  the  following : 

Introduction 
The  George  Junior  Republic  is  not  a  charity  institution. 

Discussion 
I.     "Nothing  without  labor." 

(Sub-heads  as  before.) 
II.     Forms  of  government. 

(Same  as  before.) 
III.     The  Republic  develops 

1.  Democracy. 

2.  Races  and  sexes. 

Conclusion 
Training  at  the  Republic  is  training  in  citizenship. 

The  faults  are  still  glaring  enough;  yet  we  do  catch 
the  development  of  some  progress  toward  a  real  conclu- 
sion. Had  the  student  labored  on,  his  next  stage  might 
have  been  this: 


PLANS  AND  OUTLINES  451 

The  George  Junior  Republic 

Introduction 

The  George  Junior  Republic  is  not  a  charity  institution. 
It  is  an  institution  for  training  in  citizenship. 

Discussion 

I.  The  Repubhc  trains  for  citizenship  industrially;  in  that 

1.  Each  citizen  is  impressed  with  the  duty  of  self-support. 

a.     The  motto  and  policy  of  the  Republic  is,  "Nothing  with- 
out labor." 

2.  Each  learns  how  to  support  himself. 

a.     Each  must  learn  a  trade. 

II.  The  Republic  trains  for  the  civil  duties  of  citizenship;  in  that 

1.  It  is  governed  by  laws  made  and  executed  by  its  citizens. 

2.  Its  forms  of  government  are  similar  to  those  of  the  greater 

Republic. 

3.  Citizens  learn  by  experience  the  need  of  protection  for  person 

and  property. 

4.  They  learn  also  the  evils  arising  from  inefficient  or  corrupt 

government. 

Conclusion 
Citizens  of  the  Junior  Republic  are  trained  for  citizenship  by  actual 
experience. 

Questions  might  be  raised  in  regard  to  this  outline; 
but  it  has  many  virtues:  It  has,  first,  an  introductory 
sentence  which  constitutes  an  approach  to  the  audience, 
by  matching  on  to  their  existing  impressions  in  regard  to 
the  subject;  for  those  who  know  a  Httle  about  the  Repub- 
hc (and  the  speech  was  planned  for  them)  are  likely  to 
suppose  that  it  is  a  sort  of  charity  boys'  home.  This 
opening  statement  is  not  merely  something  to  get  started 
with',  but  it  helps  to  get  rid  of  a  false  preconception, 
and  prepar3s  the  way  for  the  right  conception.  The 
outline  has  clearness,  unity,  coherence  and  order.  It 
has  a  definite  subject  sentence,  and  to  this  each  main- 
head  is  plainly  related.  They  are  also  clearly  related 
to  each  other.     Each  sub-head  also  is  clearly  related  to 


452  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

its  main-head.  The  conclusion  is  plainly  the  outgrowth 
of  the  discussion,  and  shows  its  relation  to  the  subject 
sentence. 

The  form  of  this  outline  can  usually  be  followed  in 
arranging  simple  speeches;  and  the  forms,  suggested  be- 
low do  not  differ  from  it  in  essentials.  But  certain 
elaborations,  particularly  of  the  introduction,  are  worth 
considering  with  reference  to  less  simple  speeches. 

The  Classical  Form.  The  classical  form  of  oration 
grew  out  of  the  w^ork  of  the  rhetoricians  who  in  ancient 
Greece  WTote  speeches  for  pleaders  in  the  courts.  It  is 
naturally  best  adapted  to  the  argumentative  speech. 
It  is  said  to  have  been  formulated  first  by  Corax,  a  Sici- 
lian, about  twenty -four  hundred  years  ago;  and  it  has, 
with  modifications,  served  as  the  standard  for  orators 
down  to  our  time.  Andrew  D.  White,  whose  broad 
experience  and  recognized  ability  give  weight  to  his 
opinion,  has  often  expressed  the  conviction  thai:  this 
classical  form  has  so  long  held  the  field  because  it  is  the 
best  possible  form,  just  as  the  Corinthian  pillar  is  the  best 
possible  pillar.  In  many  trying  emergencies,  he  says, 
this  plan  has  helped  him  in  throwing  his  thoughts  quickly 
into  order. 

^"Corax  .  .  .  framed  four  divisions :  introduction, 
narration,  proof,  and  conclusion.  Aristotle,  a  number  of 
years  later,  reaches  practically  the  same  result,  although 
his  designation  is  slightly  different;  he  also  has  four 
divisions:  exordium,  exposition,  proof,  and  peroration. 
The  first  important  deviation  from  this  plan  is  made  by 
Cicero,  who  adds  two  new  divisions,  thus  making  in  all 
six:  introduction,  narration,  proposition,  proof,  refuta- 
tion,   and    conclusion." 

I  will  briefly  describe  the  five  divisions  which  seem  to 
me  worth  emphasizing: 

^Ringwalt,  Modem  American  Oratory,  p.  53. 


PLANS  AND  OUTLINES  453 

1.  The  Exordium.  This  word,  by  its  derivation, 
means  the  beginning  of  weaving,  the  laying  of  the  warp; 
and  it  suggests  that  from  the  very  first  words  of  a  speech 
we  should  be  carrying  out  a  plan,  not  merely  sparring 
for  an  opening.  It  is  a  better  word  than  introduction, 
when  one  is  separating  the  beginning  of  a  speech  into 
parts,  for  the  introduction  includes,  in  modern  termin- 
ology, all  down  to  discussion.  What  the  exordium  shall 
consist  of  it  is  useless  to  attempt  to  say,  except  in  the 
most  general  way.  Whatever  will  help  in  getting  on  good 
terms  with  your  hearers,  in  getting  them  interested, 
thinking  on  the  right  line,  and  listening  with  fairness. 
It  is,  as  Cicero  tells  us,  the  part  to  be  prepared  last,  after 
one  knows  well  what  he  has  to  introduce.  Often  it  is 
lost  in  the  next  division. 

2.  The  Exposition.  This  term  is  better  than  narra- 
tion, for  narration  is  only  one  way  of  explaining.  This 
part  includes  whatever  is  needed  in  the  way  of  prelimi- 
nary definition  and  explanation,  the  history  and  origin 
of  the  question,  etc. 

3.  The  Partition.  I  accept  Ringwalt's  suggestion  of 
substituting  this  term  for  proposition y  which  is  limited 
to  argument.  By  whatever  name  it  is  described,  this 
division  includes  the  speaker's  statement  about  what 
he  proposes  to  set  forth, — what  he  proposes  to  do  and 
does  not  propose  to  do. 

4.  Discussion.  This  is  a  better  term  for  general  use 
than  proof,  which  also  belongs  to  argument.  There  is 
little  to  be  said  here  of  this  part,  though  it  is  the  most 
important  part  of  a  speech. 

5.  Peroration  or  Conclusion.  The  term  peroration 
is  now  usually  reserved  for  the  more  pretentious  sort  of 
speech.  This  division  sometimes  summarizes  the  argu- 
ment or  explanation,  sometimes  impresses  the  major 
thought,  sometimes  draws  a  lesson  from  the  discussion. 


454  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

and  sometimes  makes  a  plea  for  action,  and  sometimes 
does  all  of  these  things.  The  major  consideration  is, 
that  the  conclusion  should  really  conclude,  that  it  should 
be  a  real  outgro\\i:h  of  the  speech  and  organically  related 
to  it,  not  something  tacked  on. 

The  classical  form  is  certainly  valuable  to  have  in  mind, 
to  be  used  on  many  occasions,  perhaps  on  most;  though 
one  may  question  if  it  is  best  for  all  speeches,  just  as  one 
may  question  if  the  Corinthian  pillar  is  best  for  all  places. 
The  classical  form  may  seen  too  elaborate  for  some 
speeches;  but  it  does  contain,  in  the  normal  order,  the 
elements  which  are  needed  in  most.  iVnd  although  in 
the  speeches  of  to-day  the  divisions  are  often  not  strongly 
marked,  analysis  wall  show  usually  that  they  are  present 
in  speeches  that  are  well  ordered. 

You  will  see  that  the  classical  form  corresponds  roughly 
to  the  scheme  of  parts  set  down  in  modern  works  on 
debating,  and  followed  to  some  extent  in  the  discussion 
of  the  Approach  to  the  Audience  in  Chapter  XIII.  It 
will  be  well  to  compare  what  is  said  here  with  that  dis- 
cussion and  also  with  the  treatment  of  the  subject  in  a 
good  work  on  debating.  Foster's  Argumentation  and 
Debating,  (Chapter  X)  is  suggested.  Though  Foster's 
scheme  is  father  rigid,  the  student  of  speaking  will  profit 
by  following  it  through  strictly  with  at  least  three  or 
four  complete  arguments. 

Another  Form  of  Outline.  I  will  here  lay  out  a  speech 
plan  which  combines  many  of  the  suggestions  made  in 
this  and  in  other  chapters.  I  use  the  term  approach 
as  more  suggestive  than  introduction. 

The  Approach 

A.  Exordium. 

B.  Explanations. 

C.  Elimination  of  irrelevant  matter. 


PLANS  AND  OUTLINES  455 


D. 
E. 
F. 
G. 

Concessions. 

Common  ground. 

Issues. 

Partition  or  proposition. 

Discussion 

Conclusion 

You  will  understand  that  it  is  not  offered  as  something 
to  be  rigidly  followed  under  all  circumstances,  but  as 
something  to  help  you  in  your  arrangement.  Some  such 
form  should  be  followed,  unless  you  are  sure  in  a  given 
case  that  you  have  something  better.  Not  all  of  these 
parts  are  needed  in  every  speech,  and  several  of  them 
may  blend  together.  All  down  to  E  may,  in  some  speeches, 
be  means  of  getting  on  common  ground;  but  all  these 
parts  should  be  taken  into  account  in  any  speech  for  belief 
or  action. 

The  order  may  be  changed  much  by  the  exigencies  of 
an  occasion.  In  a  legislative  debate,  for  example,  one 
might  wish  to  begin,  without  introduction,  on  a  rebuttal 
argument.  At  times  there  may  be  no  divisions  at  all. 
I  recall  an  excellent  speech  on  Yellow  Journalism,  in 
which  the  speaker  began  by  describing  a  conservative 
newspaper  which  suddenly  changed  into  a  sensational 
sheet.  When  he  had  finished  his  illustration  his  speech 
was  done.  It  would  have  been  absurd  to  label  the  parts. 
But  this  admission  in  regard  to  the  exceptional  speech, 
is  not  available  for  the  lazy  speaker  who  wishes  an  excuse 
for  not  recognizing  the  divisions  which  should  be  present 
in  his  speech. 

If  the  speech  is  expository,  there  is  not  often  need  of  so 
much  elaboration  of  the  opening  as  in  argumentative 
speeches;  though  there  is  usually  need  for  preliminary 
explanations  of  the  problem  and  what  is  to  be  attempted, 
and  there  is  often  need  of  awakening  interest,  and  some- 


456  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

times  of  avoiding  prejudice.  Usually  the  approach  will 
not  need  more  than  these  divisions:  Common  ground  of 
interest,  Explanation  and  Partition. 

Descriptive  and  narrative  speeches  do  not  differ  greatly 
from  expository  speeches  in  regard  to  outlines.  Fre- 
quently the  descriptive  speech  cannot  be  distinguished 
from  the  expository  excejjt  by  purpose.  Students  some 
times  think  that  a  narrative  speech  cannot  be  outlined; 
yet  there  are  in  a  story  more  or  less  distinct  episodes,  as 
in  a  play  there  are  acts  and  scenes.  No  kind  of  speech 
more  needs  orderly  progress  than  the  narrative.  What 
seems  simple  and  natural  in  a  well  told  story  is  prob- 
ably the  result  of  careful  planning  and  experimentation. 

All  these  plans  assume  that  a  speaker  will  set  forth 
in  the  beginning  what  he  proposes  to  do  in  his  speech; 
and  that  is  the  normal  procedure.  It  helps  the  audience 
to  understand,  as  is  well  set  forth  in  the  excerpt  from 
Phillips  Brooks.  But,  as  we  ha^  noted,  one  does  not 
always  wish  to  tell  an  audio^T  in  advance  what  he 
proposes  to  do.  In  such  a  ca^PHie  statement  of  purpose 
may  appear  in  the  conclusion;  or,  in  case  he  does  not 
wish  to  state  it  at  all,  I  suggest  that  he  still  place  it  in  its 
normal  position  in  his  outline,  inclosed  in  brackets,  in 
order  that  he  may  make  sure  that  it  is  clear  to  himself. 

In  Conclusion.  Careful  planning  is  as  necessary^  to 
the  speaker  as  to  one  who  would  build  a  house  or  go  on  a 
journey  in  an  economical  and  efficient  way.  This  whole 
book  proceeds  on  the  assumption  that  one  will  accom- 
plish a  purpose  best  when  he  knows  precisely  what  it  is 
and  considers  the  best  means  to  the  end.  Contrary 
views  are  prompted  in  most  cases,  by  mdolence,  the  native 
disinclination  to  think,  or  by  the  mistaken  notion  that  we 
can  under  ordinarj^  circumstances  depend  upon  inspira- 
tion. There  is  something  we  call  inspiration,  but  it 
helps  those  who  first  help  themselves.     To  trust  to  it  is 


PLANS  AND  OUTLINES  457 

usually  to  talk  glibly  but  ineffectively.  The  best  in- 
spiration arises  from  the  knowledge  that  one  is  thoroughly 
prepared  with  facts  and  arguments,  that  these  are  clearly 
thought  out  and  arranged,  and  that  they  can  be  fittingly 
expressed;  and  further  that  what  one  has  to  say  is  of 
interest  and  importance  to  the  audience.  The  yoimg 
speaker  should  not  hope  to  do  all  that  he  observes  veterans 
doing;  though  he  should  hope  by  training  himself  to  sur- 
pass many  of  those  veterans.  I  have  had  no  desire, 
however,  to  lay  down  rigid  rules  for  the  speaker;  nor  have 
I  endeavored  to  give  you  methods  to  take  the  place  of 
good  subject-matter.  All  we  teachers  can  hope  to  do 
is  to  help  you  in  becoming  intelligent  in  regard  to  speech- 
making. 


V 


INDEX 


Abbott,  Lyman,  433,  434,  435. 

Abstract  ideas,  difficult  to  attend 
to,  76;  DeGarmo  quoted,  76; 
Jevons  quoted,  76;  use  of, 
treacherous,  77;  Gardiner,  77; 
Schopenhauer,  77;  not  neces- 
sarily higher  thinking,  82. 

Abstract  subjects,  preparing 
speeches   on,    97. 

Accuracy,  of  statement  and  author- 
ity of  the  speaker,  356. 

Action,  does  not  follow  necessarily 
from  belief,  250,  251 ;  as  a  result 
of  intellectual  acceptance  of 
truth,  251;  as  determined  by 
attention,  253;  after  delibera- 
tion, 255;  to  develop  sense  of 
responsibility,  266;  persuasive 
images  of,  276;  effect  of  sugges- 
tion on,  283;  mob  demands 
immediate,  296;  dependence  on 
permanent  impressions,  390; 
methods  for  securing  future, 
391;  postponed,  importance  of 
"mood"  of  conviction,  392; 
immediate  and  future  conduct, 
393. 

Activity,  a  means  of  interesting 
the  audience,  202. 

Admissions   of   an   opponent,    of 

•  speaker   and    persuasion,     321; 

effectiveness  of  in  argument,  346. 

Advertising,  a  means  of  increasing 
authoritativeness  of  the  speaker, 
281 ;  use  of  repetition  in,  to  over- 
come conservatism,  339. 

Affectation,  13;    in  phrasing,  236. 

Affections,  a  fundamental  interest, 
182. 

Age  and  conservatism,  336. 

Agitator,  356. 

Aiken,  W.  A.,  148. 

A  Liberal  Education,  selection, 
174. 

Alice  in  Wonderland,  200,  238. 

Amplification,  55 ;  beginners  weak 
in  use  of,  220;    in  persuasion. 


271;  Genung  quoted,  271;  il- 
lustrated from  Burke,  271; 
as  a  means  of  suggestion,  280. 

Amusing  an  audience,  199. 

Analogy,  208. 

Analysis  of  a  speech  subject,  444  ff. 

Angell,  70,  74,  88,  254. 

Anger,  dimishes  the  influence  of 
the  speaker,  375, 

Antagonizing  the  audience,  201, 
312,  377,  380. 

Anticipation,  to  sustain  the  atten- 
tion, 198;  a  factor  in  suggestion, 
291. 

Antithesis,  force  of,  235. 

Appeal,  bald,  to  emotion  of  ques- 
tionable value,  264;  for  sympa- 
thy, 264;  often  ineffective,  265; 
must  be  in  terms  of  the  old,  to  a 
mob,  295. 

Application  of  an  idea,  the  audi- 
ence interested  in,  204. 

Approach  to  the  audience,  purpose 
of,  31 1 ;  Cicero  on,  31 1 ;  Genung 
quoted,  311;  a  belligerent  atti- 
tude to  be  avoided,  312;  finding 
common  ground,  314;  how  find 
common  interests  for,  315; 
definition  of  terms  in,  to  avoid 
needless  contention,  320;  con- 
cessions helpful,  321 ;  considera- 
tion of,  in  the  outline,  451  f.       ^^ 

Approval  and  admiration,  as  a 
motive,  261. 

Argument,  exposition  in,  241;  use 
of  in  persuasion,  269;  review  of, 
for  persuasion,  269;  place  of 
logical,  in  persuasion  for  belief, 
303;  persuasive  and  sound  to 
be  effective,  304;  emotion  in, 
304  ff.;  methods  of  should  be 
studied,  304;  effect  of  unrelated 
emotion  on,  309;  most  tangible 
method  of  changing  belief,  313; 
tendency  of  audience  to  resist, 
313;  explanations  to  prepare 
for,   319;     definition   of   terms. 


459 


460 


PUBLIC  SPEAKING 


320;  finding  the  real  issues,  322; 
order  of,  323;  determined  by 
exigencies  of  the  occasion,  323, 
324;  rate  of  progress  in,  326; 
bearing  of  fixed  opinions,  prin- 
ciples and  sentiments  on,  326  ff ; 
rebuttal  of  argument  from  prece- 
dent, 341 ;  importance  of  use 
of  authorities,  341;  persuasive 
use  of,  342;  tests  of  authorities, 
343 ;  argument  for  future  action, 
392;  pure  argument  not  neces- 
sarily persuasive,  393. 

Aristotle's  classification  of  motives 
258;  justification  of  persuasion, 
386. 

Associations,  effect  of  uncontrolled 
45,  443;  of  the  new  with  the  old, 
68;  lawsof,69;  and  emotion,  114. 

Athletics,  speech  subjects  on,  407. 

Attention,  principles  of,  63  ff; 
effect  of  uncontrolled  associa- 
tions on,  45;  grasp  of,  limited, 
45;  James  quoted,  46;  and 
delivery,  general  references. 
Chapters  I,  II,  IV,  IX,  special 
references,  27  ff,  45  ff;  and 
relations  of  ideas,  52;  forms  of, 
64;  and  interest,  66;  sustained, 
the  problem  of,  72;  how  salved, 
73;  concreteness  and,  75;  imagi- 
nation and,  85;  of  the  speaker 
to  his  topic,  89  ff;  economy  of, 
180;  of  the  audience,  how  won, 
181  ff;  imagination  and  atten- 
tion of  audience,  206  ff;  means 
of  sustaining,  218;  rules  for,  of 
doubtful  value,  239;  the  founda- 
tion principle  of  persuasion,  253; 
determines  action,  253;  belief, 
a  problem  of  securing  exclusive, 
300;  resulting  in  immediate  or 
remote  action,  390;  Pillsbury 
quoted,  390  f;  see  Centering, 
Audience,  and  Speaker. 

Attitude,  emotional,  of  audience 
must  not  be  ignored,  308; 
speaker  to  avoid  a  belligerent, 
312;  emotional,  of  high  impor- 
tance, 393. 

Audience,  contact  with.  Chapter  I ; 
attention  of,  see  Attention,  and 


Chapters  X,  XII,  XIII:  saluta- 
tion of,  143  f;  necessity  of 
interesting,  180;  previously 
aroused  interest  of,  181;  how 
win  the  attention  of,  181  ff; 
fundamental  interests  of,  182; 
need  of  studying,  182;  difference 
in  interests  of,  183;  need  of 
knowing,  183;  relation  of  speak- 
er to,  184  ff;  the  general,  186; 
how  to  interest,  186  ff;  common 
interests  of,  187;  means  of 
interesting  all,  188  ff;  use  of 
derived  interest  to  win,  188; 
ways  of  deriving  interest  in, 
189  f;  novelty  and  interest  of, 
1 80 ;  the  familiar  and  interest  of, 
191;  difference  of,  in  relish  for 
novelty,  193;  making  it  think, 
195;  antagonizing  the,  201; 
considerations  of,  in  choosing 
illustrations,  212;  emotional 
attitude  of,  important,  308; 
the  approach  to,  311;  cons«va- 
tive  or  radical  tendencies  of, 
331;  fairness  and  courtesy  on 
the  part  of  the  speaker  toward, 
366,  367;  speaker's  respect  for, 
368;  exaggeration  of  power  of 
suggestion  on,  369;  not  to  be 
patronized,  370;  convicting  of 
ignorance,  377;  tact  in  addres- 
sing, 377  ff;  speaker  should 
avoid  humiliating,  378;  need- 
less stirring  of  prejudices  of,  380; 
demands  sincerity  in  the  speak- 
er, 382;  consideration  of,  in 
choosing  subjects,  396  f;  see 
Attention,  Emotion,  motives. 
Interest,  Sustained  attention, 
and  Suggestion. 
Authority,  in  suggestion,  280;  of 
the  speaker,  enhanced  by  adver- 
tising, 281;  effectiveness  of,  in 
argument,  341  f;  and  prestige, 
342;  persuasive  use  of,  342; 
tests  for  a  good,  343;  on  particu- 
lar questions,  343;  on  questions 
of  history,  344;  impartiality  of, 
345;  Woodrow  Wilson  quoted, 
345;  effectiveness  of  several 
on  same  question,  347;  reliance 


INDEX 


461 


placed  upon,  347;  explicit  use 
of,  348;  how  attacked,  350; 
Lincoln's  method  of,  352;  the 
speaker  as  an,  354;  used  against 
exaggeration,  356;  positiveness 
an  element  in,  358;  strength  of 
understatement  in,  359;  effect 
of  humor  on,  361 ;  see  Exaggera- 
tion, and  Speaker. 
Await  the  Issue,  a  selection,  175. 

Bacon,  Lord,  on  reading,  420,  421. 

Bailey,  L.  H.,  333. 

Bain,  A.,  .301,330. 

Baker,  G.  P.,  250,  259,  321,  425. 

Baldwin,  C.  S.,  232. 

Baldwin,  J.  M.,  255,  309. 

Banquet  speaking,  usually  pur- 
poseful, 253. 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  8;  defini- 
tion of  oratory,  252;  use  of 
motives,  259,  261;  and  crowd 
psychology,  290;  finding  com- 
mon ground,  318;  the  quality 
of  self-respect,  374. 

Belief,  as  a  purpose  of  speaking, 
179;  a  different  end  from  action, 
250;  persuasion  and,  300  ff; 
winning,  a  problem  of  securing 
exclusive  attention,  300  ff;  and 
attention,  300;  James  quoted, 
300;  dependence  of,  upon  ex- 
perience, 301  f ;  importance  of 
logical  argument  in  securing, 
303;  effect  of  emotion  in  secur- 
ing, 305;  Pillsbury  quoted,  305; 
effect  of  desire  on,  305,  307; 
how  approach  the  audience  to 
effect,  311;  tendency  of  audi- 
ence to  resist  argument,  313; 
common  ground  of,  316;  reasons 
often  absent  for,  327;  identify- 
ing the  proposed,  ^ath  the 
accepted,  329;  James  quoted, 
329;  identification  as  a  means 
of  persuasion  for,  330;  Bain 
quoted,  330;  how  overcome 
conservative  attitude  in,  338. 

Bell,  Alexander  Melville,  149. 

"Be  natural,"  insuflncient  advice 
to  speaker,  25. 

Betts,  W.  H.,  84,  85. 


Beveridge,  Ex-senator,  quoted  on 
limitations  of  humor,  362;  on 
value  of  self-confidence,  372. 

Bible,  as  a  source  of  illustration, 
213,  214;  conditions  of  quoting 
from,  348;  a  model  of  pure 
English,  370;  references  to, 
Luke  18:10,  169,  170;  Paul's 
persuasiveness,  388. 

Biography,  sources  of,  418. 

Bluff,  in  college  debates,  349;  see 
Self-confidence. 

Bluntness,  238;  in  exposition,  248. 

Books,  as  authorities  in  argument, 
342;  finding  them,  415  ff;  how 
to    find    materials    in,    415^  ff. 

Booth,  Maud  Ballington,  24. 

Bos,  Camille,  307. 

Bowing,  143. 

Breathing,  pause  utilized  for,  58; 
exercises  for,  149  ff. 

Brevity,  sufficiency  of  detail  con- 
sistent with,  210;  virtue  of,  220; 
not  necessarily  good,  221; 
Phelps  quoted,  221;  and  clear- 
ness, 222;  Gettysburg  Address 
and,  223;    suggestions  for,  223. 

Bright,  John,  432. 

Brooks,  Phillips,  on  speech  prepar- 
ation, 423;  on  the  importance 
of  an  outline,  442. 

Bryan,  W.  J.,  213,  236;  as  a  crowd 
leader,  334. 

Bryce,  James,  170;  as  an  author- 
ity, 345. 

Burbank,  Luther,  as  a  scientific 
authority,  343. 

Burke,  Edmund,  138,  271. 

Burr,  George  L.,  238. 

Business  men  and  public  speaking, 
6. 

Campus  topics  for  speech  subjects, 
407. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  175. 

Centering,  meaning  of,  46;  results 
in  emphasis,  46;  relation  of 
phrasing  to,  47;  varies  with 
meaning,  48;  determined  by 
context,  49;  duration  of,  de- 
termined by  importance  of 
thought,  49;   effect  of  confused. 


462 


PUBLIC  SPEAKING 


49;  overphrasing  caused  by 
defective,  50;  phrasing  and 
pausing,  51;  relation  to  under- 
phrasing,  52;  resulting  in  a  dis- 
tinct impression  from  each 
phrase,  52;  in  change  of  pitch, 
61. 

Chairman,  recognition  of,  143. 

Characteristics  of  men  in  crowds, 
287;  of  the  mob,  296;  conser- 
vatism of  English-speaking 
peoples,  331 ;  of  good  use  of 
authority,  343  f. 

Chart,  in  exposition,  244;  ad- 
vantages of  having  previously 
prepared,  245;  complexity  a 
hindrance,  244;  speaker's,  for 
use  in  speech  preparation,  438  f . 

Chesterton,  G.  K.,  442. 

Children,  how  to  interest,  68. 

Cicero,  40,  311;  452. 

Classical  form  of  outline,  452  ff. 

Clearness,  and  vividness  needed 
by  the  speaker,  63;  through  con- 
creteness,  76;  Royce  quoted, 
77;  imagination  for,  85;  as  a 
purpose  of  speaking,  179;  and 
brevity,  222;  Wendell  quoted, 
246;  consideration  of  audience 
necessary  to  obtain,  247;  neces- 
sary conditions  of,  247;  of 
understanding  in  finding  com- 
mon ground,  320;  an  essential 
of  a  good  outline,  446  f. 

CHmax,  235 ;  in  order  of  argument, 
323. 

Coherence,  in  delivery,  59;  and 
unity,  230;  how  secured,  230; 
Wendell  Phillips  a  master  of, 
231,  232;  point  of  view  import- 
ant to,  232;  in  an  outline,  447; 
tests  of,  447  f . 

College  classes  in  public  speaking, 
9. 

College  men  and  modesty,  371. 

College  orations,  231. 

Common  ground,  persuasive  use 
of,  314;  not  difficult  to  find,  314, 
317;  of  feeling,  315;  of  belief, 
316;  illustrated  from  Wendell 
Phillips,  316;  use  of,  not  trick- 
ery, 316;  examples  of ,  in  Beech er 


and  Webster,  318;  explanations 
in  finding,  319;  use  of  by  St. 
Paul,  389. 

Commonplace  and  platitude,  187. 

Composition,  234. 

Concessions,  disarm  hostility,  321 ; 
advantages  of,  322. 

Conclusion,  in  an  outline,  453. 

Concreteness,  and  attention,  75; 
value  of,  75;  De  Garmo  quoted, 
76;  and  clearness,  76;  concrete 
and  abstract  illustrated,  79; 
Dewey's  definition,  81;  limits 
of,  82;  and  interest  of  the  audi- 
ence, 203;  meaning  of,  203;  and 
sustains  attention,  218;  and  the 
specific  as  means  of  persuasion, 
272;  Lowell  quoted,  272;  Fos- 
ter quoted,  272. 

Conduct,  to  influence,  a  purpose  of 
speaking,  179;  249  ff ;  influence  of 
social  pressure  on,  282;  see 
Persuasion. 

Confidence,  of  the  speaker,  devel- 
oped by  work  with  selections, 
158;  of  audience,  in  the  speaker, 
354. 

Conflict,  interest  of  audience  in, 
201;  used  in  antagonizing  the 
audience,    201. 

Conservatism,  of  the  audience, 
relation  to  persuasion,  331;  a 
characteristic  of  English-speak- 
ing peoples,  331;  of  a  rural 
audience,  333;  a  tendency  of 
institutions,  333;  of  politicians, 
334;  of  crowds,  334;  age  a 
factor  in,  336;  considerations 
in  judging,  336;  toward  a 
particular  proposition,  337; 
means  of  overcoming,  338. 

Consonants,  exercises  for.  151. 

Contra-suggestion,  284,  285; 
McDougall  quoted,  284  f ;  Royce 
quoted,  285. 

Controversy,  political  and  reli- 
gious, finding  common  ground 
in,  317. 

Conventions,  stampeding  by 
crowd  suggestion,  291  f. 

Conversation,  public  speaking  not 
ordinary,  21. 


INDEX 


463 


Conversational  delivery,  analysis 
of,    26. 

Conversational  quality,  not  con- 
versational style,  24;  recreation 
of  thought,  27;  sense  of  com- 
munication, 27;  in  speaking 
from  manuscript,  30;  in  reading 
29;  in  speaking  from  memory, 
30;  in  extemporaneous  speak- 
ing, 32;  and  directness,  33; 
tends  to  correct  faults,  37; 
interrogation  helps  to  gain,  236. 

Conversational  speaking,  miscon- 
ceptions of,  22;  need  not  sound 
like  conversation,  22;  care 
needed,  23;  "a  gentleman  con- 
versing," 23;  not  less  dignified 
or  eloquent,  23;  not  necessarily 
good,  36;  how  begin,  38;  prac- 
tice needed,  38. 

Conversing  with  the  audience, 
17-44. 

Conviction,  exposition  as  a  means 
to,  241 ;  definition  of,  250;  com- 
pared with  persuasion,  249  ff; 
persuasion  must  often  precede, 
250;  exaggeration  seldom  leads 
to,  355;  in  college  debating, 
384,  385;  mood  of,  and  persua- 
sion, 392;  strongest,  rests  on 
both  reason  and  emotion,  393. 

Coordination,  exercises  for,  physi- 
cal,   129. 

Corax,  452. 

Corson,  Hiram,  159. 

Correlation  and  subordination  in 
an  outline,  448. 

Courage  and  self-control  in  speak- 
ing, 35. 

Courtesy,  in  the  attitude  of  the 
speaker,  367;  does  not  mean 
cheap  compliments,  368;  based 
on  genuine  respect,  368. 

Crane,  T.  F.,  3. 

Criticism,  in  learning  public  speak- 
ing, 10;  in  speech  preparation, 
101;  of  gesture,  131. 

Crowd,  heterogeneous  and  homo- 
geneous, definitions  of,  286; 
characteristics  of,  287;  desira- 
bility of  forming,  288;  methods 
of  forming,  289;  in  a  convention 


stampede,  291,  292;  may  be- 
come a  mob,  292;  ethics  of  use 
of  suggestion  on,  297;  see 
Mobs. 

Curiosity  and  attention  of  the 
audience,    197. 

Curry,  S.  S.,  45,  148. 

Curtis,  George  William,  172,  215, 
253,  334,  403. 

Curzon,  Earl,  2. 

Cynicism,  dangerous  for  a  speaker. 


Darwin,  on  origin  of  gesture,  120. 

Debating,  questionable  use  of 
authority  in,  348  fiF;  use  of 
letters  as  authority,  349;  "bluff' 
in,  349;  use  of  opposing  author- 
ity, 353;  display  of  anger 
disastrous,  375;  sincerity  in, 
384;  see  Authority,  Approach, 
Rebuttal,  and  Refutation. 

Declamation,  see  Selections. 

Definition  of  terms,  as  a  means  of 
approach  to  audience,  320. 

DeGarmo,  63,  76. 

Deliberation,  necessary  in  center- 
ing and  phrasing,  52;  preceding 
action,  255;  persuasion  in,  255; 
absent  in  crowd  state,  288. 

Delivery,  Chapters  I,  II,  IV,  V, 
VI,  IX,  XVI;  the  problem  of 
17-44;  right  thinking  neces- 
sary, 14;  conversational  quality 
in,  24;  "Be  natural"  insuffi- 
cient advice,  25;  conversational 
quality  in,  analyzed,  26;  effect 
of  eye,  35;  will  power,  35;  con- 
versational, not  necessarily  good 
36;  place  of  voice  training  in, 
39;  mechanical  methods,  40; 
imitation  in,  42;  individuality 
of,  42;  deliberation  necessary 
in,  52;  faults  of  inflection  and 
treatment,  56;  summarizing  a 
help  in,  59;  coherence  in,  59; 
structural  emphasis  in,  59; 
monotonous,  cause  of,  59;  at- 
tention in,  how  developed,  60; 
preparation  for,  104,  116; 
imagery  during,  105;  staleness 
in,  106;    emotional  drifting  dur- 


464 


PUBLIC  SPEAKING 


ing,  118;  study  and  delivery  of 
selections,  158  fT;  emphasis,  a 
means  of  unity  in,  59,  233 ;  should 
have  coherence,  233;  see  ex- 
temporaneous speaking. 

Demosthenes,  quoted,  384. 

Denunciation,  312. 

Derived  interest,  and  attention, 
67;  James  quoted,  67;  and 
attention  of  audience,  188;  in 
sustaining  attention,  218. 

Derived  primary  attention,  65; 
importance  of,  to  the  speaker, 
66;   developed  bj"^  training,  66, 

Desire,  awakening,  as  a  means  to 
persuasion,  257;  for  approval 
and  admiration,  261. 

Detail,  necessary  in  illustration, 
210;  order  of,  in  word  pictures, 
211. 

Dewey,  John,  81,  195,  204,  257, 

Diagrams,  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages of,  206,  21 1 ;  handling 
of,  245, 

Dignity  of  bearing,  366. 

Directness,  an  essential  quality, 
33. 

Discussion,  in  an  outline,  453, 

Distinctness  of  voice,  145. 

Dogmatic  teaching  avoided,  15, 

Dolliver,  Jonathan  P,,  3,  369, 

Drill,  opportunity  for,  with  selec- 
tions,   159, 

Dull  subjects,  how  to  make  in- 
teresting, 68, 

Earnestness,  involves  seriousness 
and  ardor,  385;  Matthew 
Arnold  quoted,  385;  effective- 
ness of,  385;  more  than  noise, 
386, 

Echo,  defined,  53;  "connective 
tissue  of  language,"  54;  in 
Gettysburg  Address,  54;  re- 
statement and  amplification, 
difl'erent  from,  55 ;  in  unity,  231 . 

Education  and  study  of  public 
speaking,  11;  does  not  disfpose 
of  emotional  attitude,  326  ff. 

Elimination,  necessary  to  unity, 
227, 

Eliot,  Charles  W.,  346. 


Elocution,   13. 

Eloquence,  no  "royal  road"  to,  9; 
Senator  Hoar  quoted,  2. 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  275,  390. 

Emotion,  principles  of,  108-119; 
importance  of,  108;  a  constant 
factor  in  life,  108;  and  sincerity, 
109;  presence  of,  in  all  good 
speaking,  109;  necessary  to 
speaker,  109;  not  to  be  assumed, 
110;  can  a  speaker  command.'' 
Ill;  repression  of,  fatal  to  good 
speaking.  111;  may  be  encour- 
aged, 111;  James-Lange  theory 
of,  112;  control  of,  112;  devel- 
oped from  ideas,  113;  and 
associations,  114;  suggestions 
for,  115;  effect  of  analysis  on, 
115;  time  element  in  preparing, 
115;  balancing  with  thought, 
116;  emotional  drifting  during 
delivery,  118;  gesture  and  the 
expression  of,  120;  stimulated 
by  gesture,  123;  in  exposition, 
248;  significance  of  in  persua- 
sion, 257;  relation  of,  to  motives, 
257;  bald  appeal  to,  264;  con- 
cerned with  particulars,  272; 
and  degree  of  suggestibility, 
285;  and  the  forming  of  a 
psychological  crowd,  286;  place 
of,  in  logical  argument,  304  iff; 
and  belief,  307,  308;  Wilson,  , 
Huxley,  Baldwin,  quoted,  309; 
common  ground  of,  in  an 
audience,  315;  presence  of,  in 
beliefs  of  educated  men,  328; 
mood,  the  residue  of,  393. 

Emotional  attitude,  persuasion 
involves  change  of,  250. 

Emphasis,  a  result  of  centering,  46; 
mechanical,  undesirable,  47; 
structural,  in  delivery,  59;  not 
learned  mechanically,  61;  ges- 
ture for,  140;  reiteration  and 
amplification  means  of,  233. 

Endurance,  of  voice,  an  essential 
quality  147. 

Engineer,  needs  training  in  public 
speaking,  5;  needs  imagination, 
95. 

Entertainment  as  an  end,  180. 


INDEX 


465 


Enthusiasm,  in  wrUing  or  speak- 
ing,    ^284. 

Epigrams,  2^22. 

Epithets  exaggeration  in  use  of, 
357. 

Essen wein,  4i2S. 

Ethical  questions,  speech  subjects 
on,  411. 

Ethics,  and  originality  in  speeches, 
42(5;  of  use  of  motives,  258,  259; 
of  crowds  and  suggestion,  297; 
of  persuasion,  387. 

Exaggeration,  decreases  authorita- 
tiveness  of  a  speaker,  355; 
easily  disposed  of,  356,  357; 
repels  a  conservative  audience, 
356;  tends  to  misunderstanding, 
356;  places  speaker  in  hands  of 
opponents  356;  in  the  use  of 
opprobrious  epithets,  357;  and 
positiveness  358;  and  proper 
use  of  hyperbole,  358. 

Exercises,  for  ease,  126;  for  poise, 
127;  for  relaxation,  128;  for 
coordination,  129;  for  voice 
training,  149  ff;  for  breathing, 
149;  for  vowels  and  consonants, 
151;  for  range  and  flexibility  of 
tone,  152;    selections  for,  153  fJ. 

Exordium,  the,  in  outlines,  453. 

Explanations,  in  finding  common 
ground,  319. 

Exposition^  importance  of,  241; 
as  a  means  to  conviction  or 
persuasion,  241;  methods  of, 
242;  use  of,  in  argument,  242; 
speeches  purely  expository,  242; 
use  of  pictures,  charts,  and 
maps,  244;  clearness  in,  246  ff; 
students  unfitted  for,  247;  emo- 
tion in,  248;  tact  needed,  248; 
as  part  of  introduction,  453. 

Expository  speech,  241-248;  sug- 
gestions for  topics,  410;  outline 
of,  455. 

Expression,  always  perfect,  40;  in 
preparation  of  speech,  98;  ges- 
ture a  help  in,  119. 

Extemporaneous  speaking,  con- 
versational quality  in,  32;  and 
written  speeches,  428  ff;  mean- 
ing of  term,  428;  advantages  of , 


428;  defects  of,  429,  433;  com- 
bined with  memorizing  431; 
requires  much  practice,  434. 

Extemporaneous  acquisition,  Web- 
ster quoted,  102. 

Eye,  effect  of  in  speaking,  35. 

Fairness,  as  a  motive,  261;  illus- 
trated, 261;  should  be  evident 
in  marking  common  ground, 
322;  a  qualification  of  an  author- 
ity, 344;    in  the  speaker,  366. 

Faith  and  action,  268  f . 

Familiar,  interest  in  the,  71; 
nothing  absolutely,  72;  words, 
sometimes  elusive,  79;  interest 
of  audience  in,  191  ff;  differs 
from  triteness,  192  f ;  emphasis 
on,  as  a  means  of  overcoming 
conservatism,  338;    words,  370. 

Fear,  as  a  motive,  262. 

Feeling,  unity  of,  225;  see  emo- 
tion. 

Figures  of  speech,  value  of  214  f ; 
215;  Wendell  quoted,  215; 
constantly  used,  216;  sugges- 
tions on,  216. 

Fixed  opinions,  principles  and  sen- 
timents, in  persuasion,  326. 

Flexibility  of  voice,  152. 

Fluency,  a  danger,  14,  60. 

Force,  slang  as  a  means  of,  238; 
references  to,  234;  of  a  tersely 
put  image,  275;  of  motor 
imagery,  276. 

Foster,  W  F.,  345,  347. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  339,  371,  373. 

Gardiner,  J,  H.,  77. 

General  words,  advantage  of,  78; 

versus  specific  words,  80. 
Generalizations,     78;      "glittering 

generalities,"    94;     when    most 

effective,  273;    have  persuasive 

force,  273;   how  met,  273. 
Gentleman,  the  ideal  speaker,  144. 
Genung,  219,  229,  233,  271,  311, 

359,362,403. 
George  Junior  Republic,  267;    an 

outline  on,  449  ff. 
Gesture,    principles    and    use    of, 

119-141;   scope  of  the  term,  119; 


•MWi 


IHJBLK     SIM':AKIN( 


all  iiiiportanl  means  ol*  expres- 
sion, I  19;  adapted  to  the  expres- 
sion of  feeling,  I'iO;  origin  of. 
120;  metaphorical  character  of, 
l^l;  frees  from  restraint,  121; 
unnatural  not  to,  121;  inevita- 
ble, 122;  voluntary  and  invol- 
untary, 122;  effect  of  suppres- 
sion of,  on  feeling,  123;  may 
produce  feeling,  123;  should 
spring  from  impulse,  123;  first 
stage  of  training  for,  124  ff ;  and 
poise,  125;  free  body  action  in, 
125;  second  stage  of  training, 
131;  criticism  of,  131;  shades 
of  meaning  in,  131;  third  stage 
of  training,  133;  finish  of  a,  133; 
kinds  of,  13();  locative,  136; 
illustrative,  137;  ''dont's'"  for, 
137;  in  impersonation,  139; 
suggestive,  130;  manifest  ive, 
UO;    emphatic,  UO; 

(iettysl)urg  Address,  echo  in,  54; 
illustrating  brevity,  223;  an 
exam})le  of  unity,  226;  model 
for  occasional  address,  253. 

"(Jift  of  gab,  "  developed  by  im- 
promptu speaking,   14,  60. 

(Gladstone,  William  E.,  100,  432. 

(!ood  Humor  can  \)e  cultivated, 
375;   ])resence  of  in  Lincoln,  375. 

(irady,  H.  W,  102. 

Halleck,  93   207,  276. 

Hamlet,  199.  220,  255. 

Health,  appeal  to,  as  motive  for 
action.  182;  voice  training 
beneficial  to,  145;  an  element 
of    the    speaker's     power,     3(»6. 

Ilelmholtz,   104. 

Henry   Patrick,  370. 

Hesitation,  annoying,  58;  differ- 
ent from  ])ause.  58. 

Heterogeneous  audience,  interests 
of  a.  187;  formed  into  a  crowd, 
286. 

Hill.  A.  S.,  78. 

History,  as  a  field  for  sy)eech  sub- 
jects, 397;  suggested  topics, 
410;   sources  for  facts  of,  418. 

Hoar,  (K^orge  F.,  2. 

Il(»lines,  Oliver  AVendell.  100. 


Honesty  and  tact,  388. 

Honor,  a  fundamental  interest, 
182. 

Hughes   Charles  E.,  5,  187. 

Hugo,  Victor,  211. 

Humor,  and  attention  of  the 
audience,  199;  limitations  in 
u.se  of,  199  f;  means  of,  200; 
.should  be  a  means,  not  an  end, 
201;  disposes  of  hostility,  315; 
limits  authoritativeness  of  the 
speaker,  361;  (ienung  quoted, 
362;  not  inconsistent  with 
.serious  purposes,  363;  Webster's 
capacity  for,  363;  Lincoln's 
use  of,  363;   see  Good-humor. 

Huxley,  Thomas,  174,  309. 

Hyperbole,  sometimes  legitimate, 
358;  Genung  quoted,  359; 
dangers  of,  359, 

Ibsen,  Henrik,  13. 

Ideas,  acquiring  of,  is  a  system  of 
grafting,  69;  developing  emo- 
tion from,  113;  impress  a  single 
idea,  227;  uncontrolled  associa- 
tion of,  45,  228;  exclusive  atten- 
tion to  an  idea  results  in  action, 
253;  inhibiting  action,  254; 
motor,  tend  to  express  them- 
selves in  action,  276;  dynamic 
nature  of,  279;  and  suggestion, 
279;  laws  of  suggestion,  279; 
exclusive  attention  to,  secures 
belief,  300. 

Identification,  to  make  a  motive 
effective.  263;  to  secure  assent 
to  a  new  proposal,  329. 

Illustration,  and  early  preparation, 
101;  used  to  secure  derived 
interest.  190;  and  experience, 
190;  specific  and  general,  205; 
value  of,  208;  interest  of  audi- 
ence. 208;  suggestions  for,  208 
ff;  and  prejudice,  212;  material 
for,  213. 

Imagery,  kinds  of,  83;  Scott 
quoted,  83:  different  in  individ- 
uals, 83;  during  delivery,  105; 
variations  in  use  of,  217;  value 
of.  in  persuasion,  274;  force  of  a 
tersely  put   imai,'e.  275;     Emer- 


INDEX 


467 


son  quoted,  27.5;  Webster's  use 
of,  270;  images  of  motion,  27(5; 
inhibitive  force  of  images  of 
action,  277;  a  mob  thinks  in,  294. 

Imagination,  83-88;  and  images, 
84';  and  the  imaginary,  84; 
"a  commonplace,  necessary  pro- 
cess," 84;  vakie  of,  to  attention, 
85;  to  obtain  clearness,  8.5; 
social  value  of,  8G;  needs  mater- 
ial with  which  to  work,  86;  pro- 
ductive and  reproductive,  8G; 
use  of,  in  description,  87;  help- 
ful in  working  speech  material, 
87;  in  speech  preparation,  94; 
needs  time  in  which  to  work,  93; 
and  attention  of  the  audience, 
20G  ff;  and  the  materials  of  a 
speech,  207;  Ha  Heck  quoted, 
207;  use  of  analogy  in.  208; 
helpful  in  sustaining  attention, 
219;  significance  of,  in  persua- 
sion, 274;  in  use  of  illustrative 
material,  27.5:  Whitefield's 
vividness  of,  275;  and  sympa- 
thy,  37G. 

Imitation,  of  doubtful  value  in 
learning  public  speaking,  43; 
a  factor  in  suggestion,  281. 

Impersonation,  gesture  in,  139; 
not  wise  in  beginning  to  learn, 
160. 

Impression,  permanency  of,  a 
problem  of  attention,  390. 

Impromptu  speaking,  develops 
gift  of  gab,  60;  definition  of,  428. 

Impulse,  to  gesture,  123;  to 
imitate,  a  factor  in  suggestion, 
281. 

Increasing  suggestibility,  effect  of 
numbers  on,  286. 

Indecision,  effect  of,  on  action, 
255. 

Individuality  of  the  .speaker,  12, 
destroyed  by  imitation,  42. 

Individuals,  difference  of  imagery 
in,  83. 

Inflection,  in  forward-looking 
thought,  55:  in  a  stump  speak- 
er's voice,  56;    sustained,  56. 

Influencing  conduct,  see  Persua- 
sion. 


Influence  of  the  spakcr,  moral 
character  and.  304;  and  health, 
306;  and  fuirne.ss  in  attitude, 
366;  need  for  reasonableness, 
367;  and  courtesy.  367;  modes- 
ty a  persuasive  element  in,  371; 
Franklin  quoted,  371 ;  modesty 
of  Lincoln,  373;  of  Franklin, 
373;  and  self-respect,  373:  good 
humor  increases,  374,  375;  anger 
detrimental  to,  375;  significance 
of  self-control,  sympathy,  and 
tact,  376;  and  sincerity,  383; 
earnestness  involved,  385. 

Ingersoll,  Robert,  372. 

Initiation  of  tone,  150. 

Inspiration,  and  preparation,  102, 
456. 

Interest,  and  attention.  GO:  grows 
with  knowledge,  67;  derived, 
67;  and  novelty,  69;  in  the 
familiar,  71;  difference  of  in 
different  people,  72;  topics  of, 
89;  depends  on  knowledge,  90; 
loss  of,  in  a  speech,  106;  and 
the  attention  of  the  audience. 
Chapter  X;  speaker's  purpose, 
179;  necessity  of  interesting 
the  audience,  180;  speaker 
needs,  for  his  own  sake,  180; 
fundamental  interests  of  audi- 
ence, 182;  the  human  interest, 
182;  differences  in  groups,  183; 
variation  of  interests  of  same 
group,  184;  of  a  general  audi- 
ence, 186  ff;  derived,  to  reach 
the  audience,  188;  ways  of 
deriving,  189;  through  illustra- 
tion, 190;  novelty,  190;  and 
the  familiar,  191;  summary  of 
chapter  on  interesting  the  audi- 
ence, 194  ff;  sensational  methods 
to  gain,  190;  conflict,  201; 
activity.  202;  concreteness  of 
expression  increases,  203;  use 
of  the  specific,  204;  illustra- 
tion essential,  208;  to  secure 
postponed  action,  392:  relation 
to  speech  subjects,  397  ff. 

Interrogation,  in  securing  froce, 
235;  Phelps  quoted,  235;  Bryan 
quoted,   236. 


4(18 


PUBLIC  SPEAKING 


Introduction,  of  this  book,  1-10; 
to  make  hearers  well  disposed, 
311;  of  outline,  447  ff;  see 
Approach. 

James,  William,  12,  40,  GO,  07,  09, 
7:?.  120.108,191,218,  253,  207. 
300.  .3^39. 

Jamcs-Lange  theory  of  Emotions, 
112. 

Jcvons,  70. 

Judgjnent.  men  do  not  ahvaj's  act 
in  accordance  with,  2.>1;  effect 
of  dcisrc  upon,  307:  unbiased,  of 
authority.  344  f;  and  the  influ- 
ence of  the  speaker,  355. 

Ketcliam,  199. 
Kirl)y.    100. 

Knowledge,  growth  of,  develops 
interest,  07. 

Language,  inadequate  for  expres- 
sion of  ideas,  119;  gesture  the 
original  language,  121;  selec- 
tions should  be  in  good,  104; 
technical,  sometimes  necessary, 
203  f;  relation  of.  to  interest, 
203  f;  effective  phrasing,  230; 
a  poor  instrument  for  clearness, 
240;  common  people  like  to  hear 
good.  370;  tact  in  choice  of;  382; 
see  Figures  of  speech. 

lavisse,  332. 

Laws  of  suggestion,  279. 

Lawyers,  speaking  a  help  to.  5; 
emotional  appeal  before  Su- 
preme Court,  307. 

Leader.«:hip,  relation  of  pubhc 
speaking  to.  11. 

Le  Hon,  287,  295,  327,  334. 

Lee,  D.  C,  100. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  preparing  a 
speech  on,  75,  91,  180,  219; 
Lincoln-Douglas  debates,  90; 
ability  of,  to  find  common 
ground,  320;  fairness  in,  323; 
testing  authority,  .352;  mis- 
represented by  Douglas,  357;  his 
humor,  303;  respect  for  his 
audience,  309;  true  humility  of. 
373;  good  humor  in,  375. 


Literary  facts,  sources  for,  418. 
Literature,  as  a  field  for  speech 

sui).iects,  398. 
Locative  gestures,  suggestions  for, 

1.30. 
Logic,  persuasion  not  inconsistent 

with,  303;    use  of  authority  in, 

342. 
Lowell,  A.  La\ATence,  0,  272,  311, 

300,  424. 

McDougall,  257,  284. 

Manifestive  gestures,  140. 

Manners  on  platform,  142-144. 

Manuscript,  speaking  from,  30, 
431. 

Maps,  in  exposition,  244. 

Marsh,   359. 

Material,  needed  for  imagination, 
80;  working  of,  in  speech  prep- 
aration, 94;  for  select  ion.s,  102; 
'  imagination  used  on  speech 
materials.  207;  for  illustration, 
sources  of,  213;  considered  from 
different  angles,  220;  finding, 
for  .speech,  415  ff;  sec  Speech 
preparation. 

Matthews,  Brander,  300,  432. 

Mechanical  methods,  40;  check 
thinking,  41;  not  desirable  to 
secure  emphasis,  01;  useful  in 
gathering  materials,  92,  422. 

Memory,  speaking  from,  30; 
helped  by  work  with  selections. 
159. 

Memorizing,  a  selection,  direc- 
tions for,  107;  James  quoted, 
108;  of  a  written  speech,  430, 
431. 

Methods,  of  preparing  selections. 
105;  of  suggestion,  289  ff;  of 
forming  a  psychological  crowd, 
289;  of  finding  common  ground, 
315;  of  overcoming  conserva- 
tism, 3,38  ff;  of  refuting  argu- 
ment from  precedent,  341;  of 
testing  authority,  343  f;  of 
attacking  authority,  350;  of 
developing  the  personal  quali- 
ties of  the  speaker,  393,  394;  of 
taking  notes,  422,  423;  see 
Exposition,  Speech  preparation. 


INDEX 


469 


Mills,  Wesley,  149. 

Misrepresentation,  danger  of,  in 
debate,  357. 

Mob,  292  ff;  how  formed,  29.3; 
subordination  of  individuality 
in,  293;  how  checked,  293  ff; 
demands  a  leader,  293,  294; 
conservatism  of,  295;  checking 
of,  295;    characterisitcs  of,  29G. 

Modesty,  and  apologizing  by  the 
speaker,  372;  and  self-confi- 
dence, 372. 

Monotony,  cause  of,  in  delivery, 
59;  of  emotion  in  delivery,  1 18; 
avoidance  of,  218;  in  repetition, 
270;  as  a  method  of  suggestion, 
291. 

Mood,  of  conviction,  392;  a 
residue  of  emotion,  393. 

Moral  character,  a  factor  in 
speaker's  influence,  364. 

Motives,  power  of,  to  fix  atten- 
tion, 257;  Dewey,  McDougall, 
and  Thorndike  quoted,  257; 
analysis  of,  258;  ethical  use  of, 
258;  unworthy,  258;  frequently 
mixed,  260;  New  York  Times 
quoted,  260;  fairness,  261; 
desire  for  approval  and  admira- 
tion. 261  f;  rivalry,  262;  fear, 
262  f;  not  always  best  to  men- 
tion, 263;  bald 'appeal  to,  264; 
relation  of,  to  audience  and 
occasion,  264;  appeal  to  sympa- 
thy, 264;  sense  of  responsbility, 
265;  faith,  268  f;  for  future 
action,  392. 

Muchmore,  G.  B.,  127, 149. 

Muscles,  training  of,  in  gesture, 
1.32. 

Music,  a  unifying  force,  290. 

Naturalness,  varied  meanings  of, 
25  f ;  study  needed  for  develop- 
ment of,  238. 

New  idea,  recognition  of,  neces- 
sary, 54;  not  necessarily  im- 
portant, 54. 

Newcomer,  258. 

Normal  condition,  gesture  as  an 
aid  in  securing,  121;  see  Natural- 
ness. 


Note  taking,  see  Taking  notes. 

Observation  and  illustrations,  214. 

Occasion,  relation  of  speaker  to, 
184  ri"  and  appeal  to  motives, 
264;  the  subject  suggested  from, 
396. 

Oral  reading,  Corson  on,  159; 
improved  by  the  study  of  selec- 
tions, 159;  see  Manuscript. 

Orators,  born,  explained,  179. 

Oratory,  comment  on  the  term,  2, 
4;  of  the  "college"  kind,  14. 

Order,  of  details  in  illustration, 
211 ;    of  argument,  323. 

Origin  and  history  of  a  question 
in  finding  common  ground,  319. 

Original  speeches,  best  to  begin 
with,  158;    see  Originality. 

Originality,  423  ff;  definition  of, 
423;  Essonwein  quoted,  42i; 
elements  of,  in  speech  prepara- 
tion, 424,  425;  Baker  quoted, 
425;    moral  aspects  of,  426. 

Outline,  coherence  in,  230,  447; 
value  of,  440;  objections  to, 
440  ff;  need  not  hamper,  441; 
Phillips  Brooks  quoted,  442; 
does  not  increase  labor,  441; 
analysis  of  the  subject  in,  444  ff; 
qualities  of,  446  ff;  clearness, 
446;  correlation  and  sub- 
ordination, 448;  the  classical 
form  of,  452;  Andrew  D.  White 
cited,  452;  divisions  of,  452  f; 
exordium,  453;  exposition,  453; 
partition,  453;  discussion,  453; 
peroration  or  conclusion,  453; 
suggested  form,  454. 

Overemphasis,  inevitable  in  vigor- 
ous speaking,  358. 

Parallel  constructions,  an  aid  to 

unity,  231. 
Paraphrasing  of  statements  of  an 

authority,  348. 
Partition,    453. 

Paul,  a  persuasive  speaker,  388. 
Pause,  importance  of,  57;    length 

of,  57;  different  from  hesitation, 

58;  relation  to  breathing,  58. 
Peroration,  453. 


470 


PUBLIC  SPEAKING 


Persistence,  necessary  to  learn  ges- 
ture, 132;  of  practice  in  voice 
training,  149;  of  an  idea,  results 
in  belief,  301. 

Personality,  sense  of,  decreased  in 
a  crowd,  21)0;  an  element  in 
power  of  speaker,  3G5;  personal 
appearance  an  clement  of,  305. 

Persuasion,  Chapters  XII,  XllI; 
exposition  as  a  means  to,  241; 
induencing  conduct  ^vhen  active 
opposition  is  lacking,  249  ff; 
definition  of  the  term,  249  f; 
Whateley's  definition  of,  249; 
compared  with  conviction,  249 
ff;  involves  change  of  emotional 
attitude,  250;  does  not  imply 
improper  methods,  251;  an 
everyday  matter,  251  f;  as  the 
chief  purpose  of  public  speaking, 
252;  importance  of,  252;  pres- 
ence of,  in  banquet  speaking, 
253;  foundation  principles  of, 
253  ff;  James,  Angell,  Titchener 
quoted,  254;  "what  holds  atten- 
tion determines  action,"  254  ff; 
illustrated,  255;  in  action  after 
deliberation,  255;  the  theory  of, 
25(1;  conventional-  theory  of, 
25G;  significance  of  emotion  in, 
257;  appealing  to  motives,  257 
ff;  Aristotle  quoted,  258;  the 
bald  appeal  to  emotion,  264; 
effect  of  sense  of  responsibility 
on,  207;  compelling  people  to 
face  the  truth,  207;  the  manner 
of  presenting  proposal,  209; 
keeping  proposal  before  atten- 
tion of  audience,  209  ff;  influ- 
ence of  imagination,  274;  of 
images  of  motion,  270;  Halleck 
quoted,  270;  and  suggestion, 
278;  suggestion  only  a  phase  of, 
280;  ethics  of  suggestion  in, 
297;  practical  considerations  of, 
298;   ftee  Sustained  attention. 

Persuasion  and  belief,  Chapter 
XIII;  special  reference,  302  ff; 
importance  of,  in  changing,  302; 
logical  argument  in,  303;  per- 
suasion not  inconsistent  with 
logic,   303;    emotional  element 


of  sound  argument,  304  ff ;  effect 
of  desire  upon  judgment,  307; 
effect  of  prejudice,  310;  Web- 
ster's disposal  of,  310;  how 
approach  an  audience,  311  ff; 
real  issues  evident  after  common 
ground  is  marked  out,  322; 
fixed  opinions,  principles,  and 
sentiments,  320;  identifying 
beliefs,  329;  conservative  and 
radical  tendencies  of  the  audi- 
ence, 331  ff;  forces  against 
change,  333;  overcoming  con- 
servatism, 338;  persuasive  use 
of  authority,  342  ff;  elements 
of  the  speaker's  influence,  304  ff; 
tact,  370;  not  trickery,  386; 
Aristotle  quoted,  380;  Paul's 
persuasion,  388;  Emerson 
quoted,  390;  future  action,  392; 
the  "mood"  of  conviction,  392; 
suggestions  for  work,  393  f; 
studying  speeches,  394;  see 
Authority  of  the  speaker.  Exag- 
geration, Humor. 

Persuasiveness  of  the  speaker,  ef- 
fect of  personal  qualities  on,  304; 
modesty,  371;   sincerity,  382. 

Phelps,  Austin,  221,  223,  370. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  "a  gentleman 
conversing,"  23;  an  exemplar 
of  conversational  style,  25; 
speaking  from  memory,  31; 
his  coherence  and  force,  231  f; 
use  of  suggestion,  288;  ques- 
tionable value  of  exaggeration, 
357;  effective  use  of  understate- 
ment, 300  f. 

Phillips,  A.  E.,  180,  182,  258. 

Phrase,  definition  of,  47;  relation 
to  pausing,  51;  underphrasing, 
52;  overphrasing,  52;  "a  dis- 
tinct impression  from  each,"  52; 
the  effective,  230. 

Picturing  gestures,  137. 

Pillsbury,  W.  B.,  07,  184,  256, 
301,  305  f. 

Pitch,  change  of,  results  from  cen- 
tering, 01;  artificial  change  of, 
147;   differences  of,  148. 


INDEX 


471 


Plan,  an  aid  in  securing  coherence, 
230;  importance  of,  435  ff;  bow 
to  make,  437. 

Platform  delivery,  preparation  for, 
104;    moving  about  in,  134. 

Pleasure,  a  fundamental  interest 
of  the  audience,  182. 

Poise,  important  to  gesture,  125; 
exercises  needed,  126;  exercises 
for,  127;    on  the  platform,  134. 

Political  science,  as  a  field  for 
speech  subjects,  397. 

Posit  iveness,  an  element  of  author- 
itativeness,  358. 

Power,  a  fundamental  interest  or 
motive,  182. 

Practical  the,  interest  of  the 
audience  in,  204. 

Practical  public  speaking,  5,  13. 

Practical  life,  emotion  in,  108. 

Practical  thinking,  Dewey  quoted, 
204. 

Practice,  persistency  in,  for  voice 
training,  149;  conditions  of,  149; 
gained  in  study  and  delivery  of 
selections,  158;  to  make  ex- 
temporaneous speaking  effective, 
434. 

Preacher,  oral  reading  of,  29;  in- 
fluence of  age  on  effectiveness  of, 
185;  use  of  sensational  methods, 
196;  use  of  anticipation,  198; 
short  sermons  welcome,  223; 
vaudeville  type  of,  225;  lack  of 
unity  in  sermons,  228,  229; 
effectiveness  of,  due  to  training, 
238;  may  secure  belief  without 
action,  251 ;  omitting  the  exhor- 
tation, 263,  381 ;  bringing  home 
individual  responsibility,  266; 
finding  common  ground,  318; 
order  of  argument  important  to, 
325;  taking  account  of  fixed 
opinions,  principles  and  senti- 
ments, 326  ff;  conservatism  of 
his  audience  toward  particular 
propositions,  337;  use  of  quota- 
tions, 342;  indulgence  of,  in  the 
exclamatory  style,  360;  the 
appeal  to  duty,  381 ;  Beecher 
quoted,  on  the  preparing  of 
sermons,  433;    Lyman  Abbott 


quoted,  433,  435;  writing  ser- 
mons, 434,  435;  Storrs  quoted, 
434  f ;  making  an  outline,  442. 

Precedent,  appeal  to  in  persuasion, 
330;  overcomes  conservatism, 
339;   fallacies  in  use  of,  341. 

Prejudice,  against  emotion,  108; 
influence  of,  on  belief,  307  f; 
evidence  of,  310.  311;  disquali- 
fies an  authority,  354;  of  the 
audience,  sometimes  needlessly 
stirred,  380;    may  be  good,  393. 

Preliminary  work  of  persuasion, 
fairness  in,  322. 

Preparation  of  selections  for  de- 
livery, 165;  of  speeches,  see 
Speech  preparation. 

Press,  supplanting  public  speaking, 
3. 

Prestige,  precedent  and  authority, 
operating  as  suggestion,  341. 

Primary  attention,  64. 

Principles  of  attention,  63  ff. 

Property,  a  fundamental  interest, 
182. 

Psychological  crowd,  and  sugges- 
tion,   286. 

Public  questions,  speech  subjects 
on,  408.- 

Public  speaking,  opportunity  and 
demand  for,  1;  well  balanced 
view  necessary,  1;  important 
to-day,  2;  Andrew  D.  White 
quoted,  2;  compared  with  power 
of  the  press,  3;  Senator  Dolliver 
quoted,  3;  Neic  York  Evening 
Post,  quoted,  4;  in  practical 
affairs,  5  ff;  Justice  Hughes 
quoted,  5;  for  lawyers,  5;  for 
engineers,  5;  for  business  men, 
6;  matter  of  attention,  6;  a 
subject  for  study,  7  ff;  theory 
and  practice  both  needed,  7; 
Beecher,  8;  What  is  to  be 
learned.'  8;  learning  outside  of 
classes,  10;  advantages  of  class 
work,  10;  educational  value,  11; 
develops  leadership,  11;  devel- 
ops individuality,  12;  a  normal 
act,  17  ff;  and  private  conversa- 
tion compared,  18  ff;  no  royal 
road  to,  63;   not  to  be  confused 


472 


PUBLIC  SPEAKING 


with  reading,  acting,  and  imper- 
sonation, IGO;  persuasion,  the 
chief  purpose  of,  252;  varied 
purposes  of,  252;  relation  of 
speech  subjects  to  our  concep- 
tion of.  401. 

Purpose,  haziness  of,  in  speaker, 
178;  importance  of,  178;  de- 
scription of,  179;  unity  of,  in  a 
speed),  225;  considerations  of, 
in  choice  of  subject,  403; 
Genung  quoted,  403. 

Pyramids,  considered  as  an  inter- 
esting subject,  98 

Quintilian,  304. 

Quotations,  should  be  in  exact 
words,  348;    in  argument,  348, 

Radical,  tendency  of  an  audience 
to  be,  331  ff. 

Range  of  voice,  152. 

Hate  of  progress  in  argument,  320. 

Heading,  conversational  elements 
in,  29;  in  speech  preparation, 
92.  419  ff;  ^vhat  to  read,  419; 
how  to  read,  420,  421;  Bacon 
quoted,  420,  421;  taking  notes 
in,  421;  a  written  speech,  431. 

Reason,  often  not  present  in 
belief,  320  ff. 

Rebuttal  of  argument  based  on 
precedent,  341. 

Reformer,  ahead  of  his  time,  335. 

Refutation  of  authority,  350. 

Relation,  of  speaker  to  audience, 
occasion,  and  theme,  184  ff. 

Relation  of  ideas,  important  to 
recognize,  52;  echo  and  new 
idea  in,  53;  distinction  between 
principal  and  subordinate  ideas, 
53;  recognition  of  forward- 
looking  thought,  55;  summariz- 
ing helpful,  58;   see  Analysis. 

Recreation  of  the  thought  in 
delivery,  28  ff. 

Regularity,  a  factor  in  suggestion, 
292. 

Relaxation,  exercises  for,  128. 

Religious  controversy,  finding  com- 
mon ground  in,  317. 


Repetition,  effectiveness  of,  in  per- 
suasion, 270;  not  limited  to 
reiteration  of  set  phrases,  270; 
as  a  means  of  suggestion,  280; 
to  overcome  conservatism,  339. 

Reputation,  a  fundamental  human 
interest,  182;  as  a  test  of 
authority,  343;  as  a  means  of 
attacking  authority,  353;  effect 
of,  on  authoritativeness  of  a 
speaker,  354  f;  an  element  in 
Webster's  influence,  364;  for 
sincerity.  383. 

Responsibility,  sense  of,  as  affect- 
ing conduct,  265;  effect  of  num- 
bers on,  286;  relaxed  in  a  crowd, 
287;   lost  in  a  mob,  293. 

Restatement,  55. 

Restraint,  gesture  and  freedom 
from,  121;  in  gesture  training, 
124;   lack  of,  in  a  crowd,  287. 

Righteousness,  a  fundamental 
human  interest,  182. 

Ringwalt,  R.  S.,  186,  452. 

Rivalry,  as  a  motive,  262. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  a  direct 
speaker,  34;  a  successful  speak- 
er, 190;  effective  use  of  generali- 
zation, 273;  effective  phrases  of, 
275;  as  an  accepted  authority, 
343;  using  opposing  authority, 
345  f:   tact,  .380. 

Root,  Elihu,  183,  260,  334,  346, 
433. 

Ross,  E.  A.,  86,  279,  296. 

Royce,  Josiah,  70,  71,  72,  84,  285. 

Rules,  of  thumb,  15;  for  gaining 
attention  of  doubtful  value,  239; 
for  originality,  useless,  427. 

Sargent,  Dudley  A.,  347,  349._ 
Scheme  for  study  of  a  selection, 

100. 
Schopenhauer,  42,  77. 
Schurman,  J.  G.,  3.  245. 
Scott,  W.  D.,  83,  278,  279. 
Seconday  attention,  65. 
Selecting  the  subject,  396  ff;    see 

Speech  subjects. 
Selections,  for  voice  training,  153- 

157;    study  and  delivery  of,  158; 

character  of,  to  be  used,   159; 


INDEX 


473 


limitations  of,  IGl;  how  to  find, 
162;  sources  of,  163;  qualities 
of  a  good,  163;  preparation  of, 
165  ff;  scheme  for  study  of,  166; 
partial  analvsis  of  Who  is  to 
Blame?  168'^f. 

Self-centeredness  of  the  speaker, 
178. 

Self-coafidence,  Beveridge  quoted, 
372. 

Self-consciousness,  expository 
speeches  an  aid  in  overcoming, 
241. 

Self-control,  essential  to  effective 
speaking,    376. 

SeIf-c,\|)ression,  value  of,  12. 

Self-respect,  and  the  influence  of 
spoil ker,  373;  requires  frankness 
without  familiarity,  374, 

Sensationalism,  use  of  by  speakers, 
196;  advantages  and  disadvan- 
tages of,  196. 

Sense  of  communication  in  de- 
livery, 27. 

Sense  of  responsibility,  an  effective 
motive,  265;  how  developed, 
266;  compelling  people  to  face 
the  truth,  267:  see  Responsi- 
bility. 

vSentimentality,  not  to  be  confused 
with  emotion,  108. 

Sentiments,  appeal  to  the  best, 
260;   and  persuasion,  327. 

Sermons,  see  Preachers. 

Shakespeare,  as  an  authority,  351. 

Shurter,  E.  D.,  273. 

Sidis,  B.,  286,  293. 

Simplicity,  an  element  of  good 
style,  229;  Genung  quoted,  229; 
in  the  plan  of  a  speech,  230;  see 
Plan  and  Outline. 

Sincerity,  and  emotion,  109;  de- 
mands responsiveness,  109;  in 
the  use  of  language,  236;  in 
making  apologies,  372;  an 
essential  in  persuasion,  383;  in 
debating,  384. 

Snowdon,  Mrs.  Phillip,  357. 

Slang,  common  sense  treatment  of, 
needed,  238;  often  inappro- 
priate, 238,  239;  limits  one's 
vocabulary,  239. 


Social  suggestion,  281;  power  of 
social  pressure,  282. 

Social  science,  as  a  field  for  speech 
subjects,  397;   topics  from,  409. 

Social  welfare  as  a  human  interest, 
182. 

Socialism,  belief  in  depends  on 
experience,  302. 

Soliloquizing  speaking,  28. 

Speaker,  must  be  able  to  think,  9; 
needs  mastery  of  his  subject, 
106;  needs  feeling  to  speak 
effectively,  109;  commanding 
his  feelings.  111;  needs  to  be  in 
fit  condition,  117;  needs  to  ges- 
ture, 119;  platform  manners  of, 
142  ff ;  a  good  voice  valuable  to, 
145;  must  be  distinct,  145  f; 
strength  of  voice  of,  146;  self- 
centeredness,  178;  minding  his 
audience,  179;  his  purposes, 
179  f ;  relation  to  audience,  occa-r 
sion,  and  theme,  184  ff;  age  of, 
185;  should  speak  the  truth, 
303:  a  belligerent  attitude  to  be 
avoided,  312:  authoritativeness 
of,  354;  factors  in  influence  of, 
364  ff;  personality  an  element, 
365;  influence  of,  see  Influence; 
need  seldom  apologize,  372; 
needs  tact,  377,  378;  serise  of 
"general  fitness  of  things,"  382. 

Speaker's  chart,  438  f. 

Specific  words.  80;  and  interest, 
204:  specific  and  general  applied 
to  illustration,  205;  suggestions 
for,  205;  and  concrete  in  per- 
suasion, 272;  more  persuasive 
than  general,  273;  order  of 
presentation  varies,  274;  spe- 
cific versus  general,  278. 

Speech  preparation,  developing 
interest,  91;  stages  of,  91; 
mechanical  devices  for,  92; 
reading  and  conversing,  92; 
working  the  material,  94:  imagi- 
nation in,  94;  expression  of 
ideas,  98;  preliminary  work  not 
wasted,  99;  time  needed,  100; 
practical  suggestions,  101;  find- 
ing material,  415  ff;  finding 
books,  415;    use  of  magazines. 


474 


PUBLIC  SPEAKING 


410;  le.fjislation,  investigations 
and  reports,  41 G;  U.  S.  govern- 
ment publications,  417; 
year  books,  418;  historical 
facts,  418;  biographical  facts, 
418;  literary  fa(;ts,  418;  what  to 
read,  419;  Bacon  quoted.  420, 
4-^21;  taking  notes,  421;  Phillips 
Brooks  quoted.  423;  means  of 
acquiring  originality,  423  ff; 
extemporaneous  or  written,  428 
ff ;  plan,  importance  of.  4.35  ff; 
how  make,  437;  speaker's  chart, 
438,_  439;  outline,  440  ff;  ob- 
jections to,  41-0  ff;  analysis  of 
the  subjc<-t,  444  ff;  qualities  of, 
44G  ff;  suggestions  for,  449  ff; 
see  Lincoln,  Arbitration,  and 
Speech  subjects. 

Speech  subjects,  range  of,  limited, 
104;  relation  of  speaker  to.  184 
ff;  should  be  narrowed,  224; 
suggested  by  the  occasion,  39fi; 
suggestions  for  finding,  390  ff; 
should  have  interest  for  both 
speaker  and  audience,  397; 
fields  for,  397  ff;  advantages  of 
familiar,  399;  purposes  of  the 
speaker,  403;  Genung  quoted, 
403;  mood  of  the  occasion  to  be 
considered,  404;  time  element 
in  treatment  of,  404  f;  adapted 
for  oral  presentation,  40,5;  sug- 
gested topics,  406  ff;  campus 
topics,  407  f ;  public  questions, 
408  f ;  social  problems,  409  f ;  for 
ex-position,  410;  historical,  410; 
ethical  questions,  411;  miscel- 
laneous, 411  f;  special  programs, 
412  ff;  .see  Lincoln  and  Arbitra- 
tion. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  "80,  211. 

Staleness,  in  delivery,  100. 

Stories,  not  the  only  means"^of 
humor,  200;  a  means  of  finding 
common  ground,  315. 

Storrs,  R.  S.,  4.34. 

Strunsky,  Simeon,  198,  225. 

Stump  speakers,  voice  inflection  of, 
50;   sincerity  of,  384. 

Subjects,  attention  to,  03;   should 

l^be  topics  of  interest,  89;    pre- 


paring on  abstract,  97;  see 
Speech  subjects. 

Subordination,  attention  in,  53; 
necessary  to  unity,  229;  and 
correlation  in  an  outline,  448. 

Suggestion,  meaning  of,  278;  Scott 
quoted,  278;  dependence  on 
nature  of  ideas,  279;  secures 
assent  directly,  279;  Ross 
quoted,  279;  only  one  phase  of 
persuasion,  280;  methods  of, 
280;  authority,  280;  repetition 
and  amplification,  280;  the 
impulse  to  imitate,  281;  social, 
281  ff;  immediate  action  tends 
to  follow,  283;  direct  and  in- 
direct, 284;  contra-suggestion, 
284;  McDougall  quoted,  284; 
increasing  suggestibility,  285; 
effect  of  numbers,  286;  the 
psychological  crowd,  280;  in- 
creases in  a  crowd,  287;  Le  Bon 
quoted,  287;  desirability  of 
forming  a  crowd,  288;  effect  of 
personal  contact,  290;  of  antic- 
ipation, 291;  stampeding  a 
political  convention,  291  f; 
ethics  of,  297;  factors  of  pre- 
cedent, prestige,  and  authority, 
341. 

Suggestive  gestures,  139. 

Summarizing,  an  aid  to  clear 
understanding,  58;  an  aid  to 
unity,  58  f ;  and  delivery,  59. 

Suspense  and  the  attention  of  the 
audience,  197. 

Sustained  attention,  72  ff;  in  secur- 
ing persuasion,  269  ff;  review  of 
accepted  arguments  effective, 
269;  repetition,  270;  amplifica- 
tion, 271;  concrete  and  specific, 
272;  images  of  motion,  276; 
making  the  impression  perman- 
ent,  390. 

Sympathy,  a  factor  in  court  deci- 
sions, \307,  308;  effective  in 
increasing  influence  of  speaker, 
376;  an  essential  of  tact,  377. 

Tact,  needed  in  exposition,  248;  a 
combination  of  various  quahties, 
376  ff;  involves  sympathetic  un- 
derstanding,    377;      convicting 


INDEX 


175 


the  audience  of  ignorance,  377; 
general  admission  helpful,  380; 
needless  raising  of  prejudice,  380 ; 
and  the  appeal  to  duty,  381; 
relation  of  speaker  to  audience, 
382;  requires  care  in  use  of 
language,  382;  and  honesty, 
388. 

Taft,  William  Howard,  260,  346. 

Taking  notes  in  reading,  421; 
suggestions  for,  422. 

Talmage,  DeWitt,  342. 

Taylor,  W.  W.,  200. 

Tests,  of  authority,  343  fit;  of 
coherence  in  an  outline,  447  f . 

Thanatopsis,  illustrating  forward- 
looking  thought,  56. 

Theory,  and  practice  in  public 
speaking,  7;   of  persuasion,  256. 

Thinking,  and  delivery,  14;  on 
one's  feet,  27;  checked  by  me- 
chanical methods,  41;  imitation 
relieves  from,  42;  Curry  quoted 
45;  different  from  musing,  45; 
confused,  due  to  confused  cen- 
tering, 49;  forward-looking 
thought,  55;  the  thought-chain 
of  a  speech,  59;  theoretical 
versus  practical,  82;  use  of  con- 
crete in,  82;  balance  of  thought 
and  feeling,  116;  making  the 
audience  think,  195;  Dewey 
quoted,  195;  average  man  in- 
terested only  in  practical,  204; 
Dewey  quoted,  204;  and  sin- 
cerity of  expression,  238;  Bacon 
on  value  of,  in  reading,  420,  421. 

Thorndike,  E.  L.   67,  256,  257. 

Thought,  chain  of,  59;  an  aid  to 
memory,  59;  unity  of,  225; 
should  be  forcible,  234. 

Time,  needed  in  choosing  a  suli- 
ject,    403. 

Titchener,  E.  B.,  63,  64,  218,  254. 

Tone,  exercises  for  initiation  of, 
150;  exercises  for  support  of, 
151;  exercises  for  range  and 
flexibility  of,  152. 

Topics,  of  interest,  89;  campus, 
advantages  of,  399;  how  treated 
399;    examples  of.  399;    virtues 


and  vices  of,  399  tf ;  for  speeches, 
suggested,  406  fl*. 

Training,  of  the  voice,  see  Voice- 
training;  of  the  muscles  in  ges- 
ture, 132;  gesture  training,  see 
Gesture. 

Triteness,  sometimes  interesting, 
192;  definition  of,  192;  in 
student  speakers,  193. 

Truisms,  often  neglected.  107. 

Twain,  Mark,  361,370. 

Uncertainty,  as  a  means  of  holding 
the  attention,  197. 

Understatement,  strength  of,  359; 
in  Webster,  359;  the  "feeble- 
forcible,"  360;  Phillips  quote<l, 
360  f. 

Unity,  lack  of  evident,  59;  iu 
variety,  224;  kinds  of,  225; 
Gettysburg  Address  an  example 
of,  226;  the  idea  of,  227;  how 
to  secure,  228 ;  requires  elimina- 
tion as  well  as  subordination, 
229;  coherence  a  requirement 
for,  230;  relation  to  emphasis, 
233;    of  mood  in  a  crowd,  290. 

Van  Dyke,  Henry,  237. 

Variety,  of  interests  in  groups,  183, 
184;  of  moods  in  an  audience, 
184;  of  imagery,  217  f;  Titche- 
ner quoted,  218;  unity  in,  224. 

Verbosity,    221 . 

Vividness  and  clearness,  and  the 
use  of  specific  and  concrete 
ideas,   81. 

Voice,  communicative  quality  of, 
34;  qualities  desired,  145;  dis- 
tinctness, 145;  strength,  146; 
endurance.  147. 

Voice  training,  place  of,  39; 
general  reference,  145-157; 
quahties  to  be  developed,  145  flF; 
prejudice  against,  sometimes 
justifiable,  145;  beneficial  to 
health,  145;  Andrew  D.  White 
quoted,  145;  not  a  simple  mat- 
ter, 146;  limitations  of,  147; 
skilled  teacher  needed,  148; 
references  for  study  of,  148  f; 
persistent  practice  indispensable, 


476 


PUBLIC   SPEAKIX(i 


149;    exercises  for,  149  ff;    exer- 
cises for  vowels,  151;    for  con- 
sonants,    151;      selections    for, 
153-157. 
Vowels,  exercises  for,  151. 

Waite,  H.  M.,  5. 

Ward,  J.  C,  90,  98. 

Webster,  Daniel,  a  conversational 
public  speaker,  23;  quoted  on 
extemporaneous  acquisition.  102; 
observation  and  illustration, 
214;  use  of  imagery,  27o;  emo- 
tional ap])eal  of,  before  Supreme 
Court,  307;  disposing  of  preju- 
dice, 310;  finding  common 
ground,  318;  defying  authority, 
351;  practice  of  understate- 
ment, 359;  not  devoid  of  humor, 
363;  reputation  and  influence  of, 
364;  personality  of,  365;  sin- 
cerity, 383;  and  memorizing,  432.  - 

Wendell,  Barrett,  215,  231,  246, 
316,  355. 

Whately,  Richard,  definition  of 
persuasion,  249. 


\\'hite,  Andrew  D.,  the  value  of 
public  si)eaking,  2,  11;  on  voice 
training,  145;  and  political 
conventions,  289;  on  the  classi- 
cal outline,   452. 

Whitefield,  George,  repeating  a 
sermon,  32;  jiower  of  imagina- 
tion, 275. 

Who  is  to  Blame,  value  for  gesture 
training.  131  f;  study  of,  168ff; 
illustrating  unitv,  226. 

Wiley,  Dr.,   268. 

Will,  the,  to  believe,  in  persuasion, 
306;  consideration  of  choosing 
order  of  argument,  325. 

Willcox,  W.  F.,  343. 

Will  power  in  delivery,  35. 

Wilson,  Woodrow,  the  value  of 
emotion,  309;  on  Macaulay  as 
authority,  345. 

Writing,  in  preparing  a  .speech,  99. 

Written  speech,  advantages  of, 
430  ff ,  perfect  memorization  of, 
430  f ;  reading  of,  431 ;  .see 
Manuscript. 


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